Path of Seduction
by Ardwynna Morrigu
Summary: Sephiroth has a plan to get Aeris' power completely under his control but as the effect she has on him grows, it becomes difficult to tell which one of them is being seduced. Ch. 31: Magic voice inside my head, what's it like being stone cold dead?
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square. No profit is made from this work. No animals were hurt during the writing of this fanfic.

Chapter reloaded with all its originally intended special formatting on February 27th, 2005, now that the site accommodates it better.

**Path Of Seduction**

**Chapter One**

The puppet's friends would all die. They tangled the strings on the blond boy's mind and enabled him to elude the near total control that kept the other clones slavishly obedient. True, the boy's already disordered mind could still be manipulated, but the comparative effort that this took made the process seem...inefficient. This, coupled with the fact that the boy's friends would in all likelihood become directly antagonistic once the plan was revealed made this Avalanche a liability, one which Mother would not tolerate. The blond's friends would die and the one called Aeris Gainsborough would be the first to go.

The silver haired man pressed his palm to the cold steel of the cell door and, focusing his will for a moment, was soon rewarded with a soft click and the sliding of the doors beneath his hand. Sword in hand, he advanced on the little pink figure lying on the cot. What he saw took his breath away. His murderous plans were forgotten as a hundred questions burned into his mind. How had such a delicate flower fallen in with Strife? What had she done to deserve captivity in the hell that was the Shinra laboratory, a hell he knew all too well? He sank silently to the floor beside the cot so as to better observe her features.

Delicate bones, a finely arched brow, skin like cream, a bit pale, perhaps, the effect of either the lighting or life in the sunless slums. A lovely face framed by dark curls with just a hint of honey. What color were the eyes that lay behind those dark lashes? Were those lips as soft as they looked? The man averted his eyes, inhaling deeply in an attempt to slow his racing heart, trying hard to collect his thoughts. He could have had his pick of beauties in his previous life, among these wretched humans, so much so that he had tired of beauty and grown to ignore it completely. How then, could this girl, Aeris, if the label on the cell door was correct, have such an effect on him?

Slowly, he turned to look at her once more. Her hands, clasped on her stomach, looked as delicate as her face. She had a slender figure, with a waist his arms ached to wrap around. The bottom of her dress was undone, revealing such a length of shapely leg that he had to turn away again, blushing. It had been a very long time even for him, but still, how could this mere slip of a girl, lovely as she was, affect him so deeply? Why was he drawn so powerfully to her, even as she lay asleep and unaware? He sought the answer in her face, in that expression of restless troubled sleep.

She seemed too beautiful to be of the planet she walked on. If ever angels had walked among men, they had forgotten this daughter of theirs behind upon ascension into heaven, left her to lie in this cold steel cage with not even the thinnest sheet to warm her. The man sighed heavily, torn between wanting to take her out of this hell to safety and a desire to explore her body with more than just his eyes. Her lips seemed so inviting. Almost without thought he found himself moving closer. Surely a light brush across her lips could not hurt. He could feel her breath on his skin. Just a hair's breadth more...

_"She is a danger to us! Kill her now, Son!"_ his mother's cry was urgent and shocked him to the core. The ever present burning of the mako in his blood intensified, searing his body in a familiar torture. He refused to cry out. Mother, as always, ignored his pain. _"Look closer! See for yourself what power she carries!"_

It was true. He could see it now, see what was invisible to those with only human sight. Waves of pure magical energy flowed like lightening in her veins, permeated every cell of her body. Did anyone realise what forces lay within this girl's body? Did she? Her power could easily match his own. To his second sight, she glowed with more power than he had ever encountered in a living being. No doubt that was why she was locked in this cage like a lab rat, as he had once been. She was like a brilliant galaxy in a sky of fireflies and in the puppet's company could prove a powerful adversary...or a powerful tool, if he could find a way to harness her energy, to control her...

His mind worked quickly at formulating a plan, one that would allow him to use this angel's power to achieve his mother's plan and fulfill his desires at the same time. A wicked half smile touched his lips as he reassured the voice that raged within his mind that he knew exactly what he was doing. True, the extra effort would be needed to control the puppet, but one glance at the beauty sleeping on the cot convinced him that it was worth it. "Soon, pretty," he whispered as he stood, and with one last look at the sleeping girl, went about the business of freeing the blonde puppet.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was nearly a week after the massacre at Shinra Headquarters that the rag tag group of insurgents deemed responsible made a none too quiet entry into Choco Bill's territory, the best little chocobo farm on the planet. The moment the giant birds spotted a spiky yellow head in the distance, they clamored at the gate of their enclosure, warking out greetings to their approaching kin. "Dammit, will ya listen to that racket!" Barret huffed as Cloud made his way over to the corral and was almost immediately smothered by the birds that rushed over to meet him at the fence.

"Hey, quit that!" the blonde leader protested as one of the birds playfully nipped his ear.

"Damn chickens must think you're family, Spike. God knows you got bird brains as it is."

Cloud made a small sound of disgust, "We'll have to see if we can rent a few of these guys. There's no safer way to cross that swamp."

"What? You afraid of a little mucky water?"

Any response Cloud might have had was cut off as Tifa, Aeris and Red caught up. "Aw, how cute!" Aeris rushed over to the fence and leaned over to pet the chocobos, who must have decided that the newcomer smelled better than their strange brother judging by the speed with which they abandoned him.

"Hm. Disowned already," Cloud shook his head and made his way to the farmhouse, "Are you guys coming or not?"

"Right behind you, Cloud," Tifa gave a parting pat to one of the birds and followed after Red and Barret. They were not even at the door when Choco Bill himself came out.

"Now what's all this fuss ..." Bill trailed off as he took in the huge sword the serious young man he was addressing carried, and then the nasty looking contraption the huge black man had in place of one arm and the four-legged thing that did not look like any pet he had ever seen. Even the pretty young woman behind them had a fighter's glove and looked like she knew how to use it.

The young swordsman inclined his head slightly in greeting, easing Choco Bill's fears somewhat. "My friends and I need to cross the swamp," the blonde said, "and we'd like to know if we could rent a few of your chocobos to do it."

Bill sighed in relief, "Well, I can't lend you any of those out there, unfortunately. I'm stabling them for someone else." He looked over at the corral, where the birds in question were vying for the attention of a sweet looking girl in a long pink dress. How had that pretty little thing gotten mixed up with the rough looking group before him? "What I can do is sell you some supplies so you can catch some of the wild ones that live around these parts. They're sort of scrawny but they'll get you across."

"I appreciate that. Name's Strife, by the way," the blonde said but did not offer a handshake.

Bill replied cheerfully anyway, "Pleased to meet you." What followed after cursory introductions was a lengthy discussion about the properties of the various greens needed, the best ways to avoid scaring off the skittish wild birds and the cost of the necessary materia, during which they were joined by the girl in pink, and the man with the contraption arm, Barret, grew increasingly impatient.

"Dammit! Why can't we jes walk out over there? There ain't no reason a little swampy ground'll stop us!"

Choco Bill was not surprised, "That's what most folks think until I tell them about the Midgar Zolom."

Barret looked angry, "What's that? Some kinda Shinra reactor waste?"

"Barret!" Tifa nudged the big man, "Shh!"

Bill pretended he had not heard. "No, it's a giant snake that will kill you as soon as look at you. My Billy thought that it might have been the reactor runoff from Midgar that created the Zolom, but some folks from Shinra came by to explain that it's just a freak of nature. Just one more thing the planet's given us to deal with, I guess."

Strife looked up, "Shinra told you that?"

"Sure did. The head of the Administrative Research department himself came down here to explain it all." Again, Bill pretended that he did not see Barret seething or Tifa's attempts to keep him quiet. No point getting on the wrong side on this band of toughs, even if they did look a bit scraggly. The girl in pink sighed sadly.

"Hmph. Figures," was all their blond leader said. He was apparently a rather close-mouthed young man. Bill noted on air of intent preoccupation about Strife but knew better than to pry openly.

Bill continued, "I gotta hand it to you, Strife. You're smarter than the last one who passed through here. Tall man in a dark coat." The sudden burning attention of Strife's mako eyes nearly gave him a heart attack. It took him a moment to realise that the entire group was watching him, with nearly equal intensity. Even the big feline seemed to be paying closer attention to what Bill said than any dumb animal had a right to. "He just walked right out over there. I hollered out to him that he needed a chocobo but he didn't even look back. Just kept walking. I heard a lot of hissing and some monstrous shrieking out there a little while after. I'm sure the Zolom got him, darn fool."

Strife asked anxiously, "Did you notice if he had a tattoo?"

Bill pondered, "Well now that I think back on it, he did seem to have some sort of dark mark on his hand, a small one mind you, but it could have been a tattoo."

Strife sighed, and then asked about purchasing the chocobo lure materia, so Bill directed him out to the stables where Billy would handle the business. It was best if the kids learned early on the proper way to manage their inheritance after all.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sephiroth sat in a corner of the cave and bit back a cry of frustration. Getting Strife to follow was proving to be an agonizingly slow process. The boy had not only dawdled for hours at the chocobo ranch, but had actually decided to spend the night. He could not simply follow like a good little puppet. He just had to stop to eat and sleep. The tall man pounded the cave floor, sending up shards of mythril. It had been necessary to slow his own progress down considerably just to make sure that the thickheaded blond did not lose the trail. This only increased the chance that those fools from Shinra would catch up with him first. They were already scouting out the terrain ahead, between the cave and Junon.

He made small sound of amusement. Here he was trying to be selectively hunted by lower life forms. The novelty of the situation was intriguing. It took his mind off the pain that threaded through his head. What was left of Shinra Incorporated would be avoided simply enough. The old man had brooked no contradiction from his underlings. The company's top brass consisted of little more than the late president's yes men. Chances that the entire group all together had two neurones to rub together were slim. Sephiroth let out a low, quiet growl at the thought of a certain bearded incompetent who for years had held the position that he himself rightly deserved. The Shinra heir, an obnoxious, prissy little fool with more ambition than common sense hardly possessed the capability to commandeer the immense corporation into creating more than a distraction. It might even be possible to get them to do some of the work which Strife might prove too slow to accomplish.

Dull pain pounded through Sephiroth's skull at the thought of the puppet. His handling of the weak clone's abilities were proving to be a contentious issue between Mother and himself. The boy was moving far too slowly, as Mother constantly reminded him, because he kept making sure that his friends could keep up. Cloud Strife played the part of leader well, the former General had to allow, but being a clone, he should not have. No clone had a right to feelings of responsibility to anyone other than Sephiroth. A clone especially did not have the right to the ever-growing ties of kinship to which Strife was falling prey, despite the best efforts of himself and his puppet master. Friends were a distraction. Sephiroth wondered for what felt like the millionth time if he should have simply gone with the original plan and slaughtered the blond's friends in their beds. Except for her, of course.

A soft shadow of a smile graced his lips as he pictured her. Aeris. Even the sound of her name in his mind was able to dispel the worst of his pain. He had watched her through the puppet's eyes for part of the day despite the throb of Mother's protests in his mind. There had been a few problems to overcome for his subtle spying to be possible. The first was the blond's own preoccupation with the other woman, Tifa. Sephiroth remembered her. She had become the buxom type, which Sephiroth did not favor, but the fact that she had survived the blow he had dealt her spoke of a hidden tenacity.

Once Sephiroth had managed to pull Strife's mind away from Tifa, there was the issue of looking at the preferred subject without being caught. If Aeris saw Strife looking at her with interest, she might be inclined to respond in kind. The very idea sent a surge of jealousy through him. Military training in covert operations, he was pleased to note, adequately covered his lack of subtlety regarding the opposite sex. While he had kept Strife's body in an animated discussion of greens with the rancher's son, he had also been able to observe Aeris chatting happily with the rancher's young daughter. Aeris had such a lovely smile.

The air of fragility that had been so apparent while she slept had nearly vanished in the light of her vibrant waking nature. He had gleaned from Strife's mind that she was not much of a fighter, though her ability to heal was phenomenal. The brilliant emerald shade of her eyes had been a pleasant surprise. Her step was sure and graceful. The silver haired man found himself mesmerized by the way her braid swung when she walked, the end almost seductively flicking around her hips. He had foolishly gotten carried away with his observation of those fine hips and that narrow waist. The one called Barret had noticed that Strife seemed to be openly staring and had slapped the little blond so hard in the back of the head while berating him about two-timing that Sephiroth had been shocked out of the puppet's mind...for the time being.

The puppet's problems were his to deal with. Sephiroth's only concern was getting that beautiful girl to desire him as much as he did her. Then the power she possessed would be at his command just as his clones were. Mother still insisted that the girl was a danger and had spent the better part of the afternoon telepathically shrieking at him to get rid of her. Sephiroth let out a sigh that echoed softly through the cave. He had never directly disobeyed Mother before and the argument inside his head had been frightful. He was sure that the pulsing headache she had spitefully left him with was meant to be a sort of spanking, but it was nothing compared to the aching feeling of being abandoned by his mother. He knew it was only temporary, but he had to force himself not to cry out for her.

He made himself as comfortable as he could on the cold cave floor. Before she vacated his mind, Mother had harshly suggested that he simply take the girl when she slept "to get it out of his system". As he sat, forsaken and lonely, on a cold stone floor that threatened to steal any warmth that had been his, the thought was almost appealing. One thought of that smile brought him back to his senses. For reasons he could not explain, he could not bear the thought of that smile turning to tears, no matter what Mother said. An unfamiliar discomfort formed like a knot in his chest. He sighed again and prepared for a long sleepless night.

Aeris rose quietly from her bed and walked over to the window, taking each step with careful haste so the floorboards would not creak and wake everyone. She leaned out, enjoying the cool night air. Everything felt so different here, away from the machinery of Midgar. The air was so fragrant. The earth was cool. She had felt grass beneath her feet for the first time. The planet had spoken to her of the world outside the city, where greenery was so abundant that one need not fear crushing it underfoot. It would remain undiminished and replenish itself in season. She smiled, softly. It was strange to walk on the grass and wildflowers like so much pavement when she had spent her life growing and protecting such things with fierce passion. It was truly different, so truly wonderful out here, yet her heart could not be light.

There were no crowds radiating black emotion as they eked out a living. There were no clouds of anguish or hopelessness or drunken forgetfulness. For the first time that she could remember, the voice of the planet was clear. But still sorrowful. The collective draw of all Shinra's reactors harvested spirits from their restful interludes by the thousands and fed them, as they screamed in the way only souls can, into wires and gears. The planet was weakening and only Aeris, its last gifted daughter, could hear its dying keen. Its piercing cry set her apart and so often denied her the joy she tried to inspire in others.

The planet's cry was not the only one that had pulled her from her sleep. The voices of her Cetra ancestors were clearer than ever. _"Child, you are in danger!"_

A rueful laugh escaped her, "When have I ever not been, Idahn?" The Cetra term for addressing an elder rolled easily from her mind, although she had never physically spoken it. More voices joined in, trying to impress upon her the gravity of the situation, but Aeris could only catch a few words from the noise.

_"Danger!"_

_"...to the west ..."_

_"Crisis..."_

_"...waiting for you.."_

_"He's there now_!"

Aeris was unperturbed, "To the west? If you mean Sephiroth there is no need for such alarm. I know he's there. He is a danger to us all, but mostly to Cloud, I think."

The connection grew faint but one voice stood out among the clamor of desperate warning, _"Be careful, dear daughter. You are our very last."  
_  
The words seemed to echo in the silence. That was the cold truth of her existence. She was the last, alone. She looked skyward, trying to blink back her tears, unaware that westward sat someone who would have sold his soul to wipe them away.

* * *

** A/N:** A special note for newcomers, if there are any: Thank you so much for giving this story a chance. If you choose to keep reading and happen to think that Sephiroth is somewhat 'soft', rest assured that there is a reason behind it and a plan for later. You'll know the explanation when you come to it, and I'm grateful if you read that far. In the meantime, just keep the title and summary of the fic in mind. I hope you enjoy the trip!


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer**: All Characters are the property of Square. No profit is made from this work, but note: IT IS MINE.

**Path of Seduction**

** Chapter 2**

In accordance with a lifetime of rigid military training, Sephiroth made his way out of the cave hours before the sun rose. Sleep had evaded him as usual. His unmatched endurance allowed him to go for weeks on end without rest, but even a short nap would have been welcome respite from last night's pounding headache. He stood motionless in the darkness, allowing the crisp air to clear his head. Just a short way south was Fort Condor. Already he could see, as clear as day, the shell of the inoperative reactor, standing high on its hill like the stone towers of old.

Granted no old fortress had ever been topped by a giant bird's nest. Tales of the last living gigantic condor had been old when he was young. Even now, as a man on a mission, he could still remember the first time he had seen her, sitting high above a frenzied battle that would have resulted in her untimely demise, or worse, a lifetime of captivity in a laboratory, had Shinra been victorious. He was grateful now that he had been Third Class then and had not led the failed battle against this creature of legend. Unable to stop himself, Sephiroth spoke softly into the night, allowing the wind to carry his words, "I am glad to see you, old friend. You had not yet built that nest when I last saw you."

Two pinpricks of mellow light appeared over the reactor. The condor seemed to have heard the gentle words of the silver haired stranger in the distance and was now staring at him with wary interest. Subdued images flashed in Sephiroth's mind, images of a large round object, the color of milk, accompanied by the awareness that life lay within. The SOLDIER's eyes widened in wonder, "Congratulations!"

_"Sephiroth! Enough of this nonsense!"_ Mother was back, finally, and thanks to this last spontaneous act of his, hardly one whit less angry.

Sephiroth felt a mixture of fear and relief. He was not alone any more, but would Mother inflict further punishment for this infraction? Communing with lower life forms ranked fairly high on her list of punishable offences. It was something he did no more than was absolutely necessary. Hesitation was proof of guilt, however, so he answered her firmly, " As you wish, Mother."

Mother was not yet finished. _" I suppose you are determined to carry out this plan of yours no matter what I say. Did a mother ever have such a willful, disobedient child!"_

The surge of guilt he felt at causing his mother pain was irrepressible, but Sephiroth could not help his stubborn nature. "I am sorry you feel that way, Mother, but it will bring unimaginable power to our cause. You will see." His almost childish eagerness to please Mother warred with an adolescent need to prove himself to her.

Mother exuded a dismissive aura in his mind, _"I doubt it. We shall see how interested your little sweetheart is when she sees that present you left her. I hardly think the girl's taste runs to entrails."_

The silver head shot up, the green eyes wide with shock at the memory of the carcass. Its flesh decayed and stinking almost before breath had left the body, the misshapen victim of a cold-blooded response to frustration lay speared upon a pine tree as a warning to Strife, but the girl Sephiroth intended to ensnare could not help but see it as well. Rapid analysis of the situation soon changed his expression to one of smug satisfaction. "Who knows, Mother? Perhaps such a show of strength might impress the girl. It hardly upsets my plans. Given my ...reputation, she would not expect anything else."

_"We shall see."_

As his mother lapsed into a silent presence in his mind, Sephiroth turned away from the condor and walked onward through the dewy grass. His plan lay northward.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

At precisely twenty-three minutes past ten in the morning, Barret Wallace came to a conclusion; chocobo hunting was hard. He began protesting loud and long until he was sure that Cloud Strife had gotten the idea into his spiky head. "Goddamnit, Cloud! We been hunting these freaking turkeys since the crack a dawn and we only got one flipping bird to show for it! I mean, the minute you try to rope one down a bunch of damn monsters jump outta nowhere and start attacking! Then when you take your eyes off the bird to keep your ass alive, the goddamned bird runs away! How come all these shinra mutants are always near the chocobos, huh? And why did you have to make the girls and the cat go off as a separate hunting team, anyway? They don't even have a chocobo lure materia! How come it's taking you so damned long to track the chickens down? Are you sure that materia's not broken?"

Cloud, who had not even bothered to look up, kept examining the grass for tracks. Barret continued to rant, "Hell, boy, why do we even have to look for more chocobos. We got that one in the corral. We can run it a few trips back and forth across the swamp. Hey, has your spiky ass heard a word I said?"

An exasperated Cloud spun around to face Barret and began to rail at him, " I heard you! The materia isn't broken because the chocobos have been staying still for a little while when we approach! That's what the materia's supposed to do! The monsters are always around because they're hunting chocobos too! They're attacking us because we're a threat to their food source! The birds run because they're skittish! Tifa, Aeris and Red are hunting without materia because we could only afford one, small parties stand less chance of scaring the birds and Red thinks his hunting skills will help them corner one!" Cloud gasped for air and continued at full speed, "We can't make multiple trips on one chocobo because the zolom will feel the vibrations and wait for us to cross again! I wouldn't take so long to track them down if you weren't yelling and tramping so hard all over the place and you only have one flipping bird because you only have one flipping hand!"

"Oh, you trying to insult me now, Spike?" Fortunately, the PHS rang, disrupting the argument. Barret huffed as Cloud answered.

"Hi Cloud! We got one!" Tifa's voice was filled with excitement.

Cloud grinned triumphantly. He clapped his hand over the mouthpiece and crowed to Barret, "They got one!" Barret turned his back on Cloud as the blond spoke to Tifa, "That's great! Red was right about his hunting skills, huh?"

"Yeah, he's got a good nose for tracks. It would have been easier with the lure materia, though. I think the chocobos must be able to smell approaching humans from a pretty big distance. Half the time they were running away before we even got in sight of them."

"Oh? So how did you finally catch one?" Cloud asked, frowning at Barret who was poking his head around the shrubbery.

"Aeris and I fanned out while Red drove the bird in our direction. Then Aeris threw it some greens and roped it in while I took care of the levrikons," Tifa chirped, obviously proud of her team's accomplishment. Catching chocobos without a lure materia was no mean feat.

Cloud noticed that something seemed to have caught Barret's attention but kept talking, "So, you want to get the next one?"

"What, are you nuts? We're all beat here! Are you saying that two strong men with a chocobo lure materia can't catch a chocobo?" Tifa teased, "We're waiting at the ranch for you guys."

"Hey, Cloud," Barret whispered, staring deep into the bush.

Cloud ignored him, "It's going to be a while yet, Tifa."

"Cloud, shut up!"

Cloud whirled on Barret, but the intense concentration with which the huge man was staring into the bush made him stop in his tracks. "Tifa, hang on a second," he whispered into the phone and then asked Barret, "What is it? A chocobo?"

Barret answered without looking away, "Yeah. A big fat one."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sephiroth fumed as he stormed across the plain. The dew had long vanished and the sun beat down with a force to scorch the earth, offering no mercy to a figure clothed entirely in black. Sephiroth was not one to be distracted from a mission by mere physical discomfort, however. Single-mindedly absorbed in his mission, he was unconcerned with who or what lay between him and his destination. The problem was straggling behind. "This is ludicrous! How long can that boy possibly take to catch a few lazy birds?"

Mother was hardly sympathetic, _"He would not take so long if he only had to catch one, but you were the one who decided to let his friends live."_ Sephiroth did not answer, but she could tell that anger was tearing away at him. "Even if you want that girl, you did not have to let the puppet's other friends live."

"No!" Sephiroth was adamant, "I do not want her alone with him!"

Mother seemed amused, _"Jealousy now, is it? You don't want to run the risk of anyone getting her before you do?"_

"Don't say it like that!" Sephiroth shuddered, struggling to hold down a rage tinged with guilt. Mother had once again seen something in him that he had not dared to look for.

_"That's what draws you to her, isn't it? She seems so pure and innocent, so harmless. You want that all for yourself and so you make this pretense at luring her in for her power,"_ Mother's voice grew cold enough to make Sephiroth shiver despite the heat.

He took a deep breath and answered as steadily as he could, " I want Aeris, as would any man, but that is only the pathway to getting her to obey me. Her ability is what I truly desire."

Mother remained cold, _"Do you deny, then, that the sight of her makes your heart flutter? That you fell to your knees when you first saw her? I warn you, Sephiroth, I know her kind. They are never what they seem. This one has not yet seen you and already her claws are tightening around your mind, so slowly that you cannot even see it. You may quite likely find yourself serving her every whim, instead of having her as a slave. You should have killed her at the first instant I told you."_

Sephiroth bit down his response, breathing deeply to ease the tightness in his chest. The slow throb of Mother's favorite punishment formed in his head. It was some time before he could answer calmly, "My mission will proceed as planned, Mother, and Aeris will come to obey me. She will give her power to our cause. You are wrong in thinking that anyone on this planet, no matter how powerful, could endanger the mission."

_"It is not the magic which she wields consciously that you need fear,"_ as if worn from trying to speak to the stubborn young man, the entity in his mind retreated into silence.

Sephiroth retreated behind his own walls, continuing his march. The questions his mother's words had raised were uncomfortable to deal with and he struggled, as he walked, to find a way to sort the feelings that lay hopelessly snarled in his mind. Could he possibly be feeling more for Aeris than a simple physical attraction? He shook his head in annoyance.

Power was what he had always lusted after and Aeris had much of it. That she was young and beautiful was only coincidence and he absolutely did not feel anything even remotely resembling protectiveness for her. He had a man's desire for her body and needed her heart only because it would bind her to his will. His first feelings had been purely physical, only desire, only lust, nothing more...

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"I don't know. Those fat ones can be real slow. And they're lazy," Chole offered her expert opinion on the third chocobo the ranch's guests had roped in.

Tifa grinned, "Hey, maybe it's for the best. I don't see how one of the smaller ones could hold up under Barret, much less walk with him."

"Tifa!" Aeris feigned outrage, giggling. Red's tongue was flapping out as he laughed in the way of his kind.

"You ready to go?" Cloud hollered, leading one of the smaller birds over by its makeshift rope reins. Tifa nodded. "Good. Tifa, you and Aeris can travel on one chocobo, I'll get Red up on mine and I guess Barret will be on his own." His brow furrowed as he noticed that Tifa, Aeris and even Chole seemed to be holding back laughter. "Did I miss something?"

The hot mist that steamed from the swamp enveloped Avalanche before the swamp was even in sight. Its rank odor seeped into the smallest twist of fabric, clinging to hairs and threads and fibers, making its targets feel miserably filthy. The little chocobo train trooped out into the sodden earth in single file, determined to cross, to escape the heat and that cloying stench.

Aeris looked around timidly from behind Tifa. Her senses were under assault. This place was unnatural. This was no wetland of the planet's making, but the result of toxins being dumped there for decades. The aura of the earth's valiant, failed effort to replenish itself under the onslaught pulsated through her. The echo of long gone screams of life twisted almost beyond breaking, into that which was no child of the planet and thus utterly obscene chilled her blood, setting icy fingers around her heart. Her friends were all unawares.

Dimly, she heard Tifa asking her if she was all right. She could not find voice to answer. Somewhere beneath, behind, a terrible force was rushing towards her, viciously hungry. A faint but urgent voice stirred in her mind, "Child, you must warn them!"

Aeris glanced up as if just waking. Then she realized the nature of the warning. "Cloud! Run!"

"What?" The rider of the lead chocobo looked back to see a dark shadow disturbing the water and heading swiftly towards his group, "Zolom! Move it! Full speed!" He spurred his bird forward, cutting across the viscous swamp with Tifa and Aeris riding close behind. The water surged beneath the riders as an unearthly shriek rent the air, announcing that the Zolom was rearing to attack, ready to feed.

"Hang on, Aeris!" Tifa dug her heels into the chocobo's sides, making a mad dash for solid ground. Aeris felt dizzy, a faint precursor to sickness that was not caused by the speed of motion. If anything, she would have moved faster to get away from the abomination streaming up behind them. The race to the other side took only seconds, seeming longer to the ancient whose blood pounded in her ears in time with the swishing of the danger in the water. Dread lifted like a curtain as the splash of water beneath the chocobo's feet was replace by the solid thud of hard ground. It was some time before she regained some semblance of control of her senses, before Tifa whirled the bird around to face the water, before she realized that they had not all made it.

"Barret's still out there!" Red did not protest as Cloud heaved him off the chocobo's back like a potato sack. In the shadow of the zolom, Barret's chocobo struggled to keep its footing. The Zolom reared up and let out a deafening screech, its tails flickering. Aeris saw more dark shadows streaking towards the floundering bird and rider. Unable to bear the forces battering her senses, she sank to the grass, gasping for air.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried out, frozen with fear. The blond spun his chocobo around and shot back across the water towards Barret.

Barret was struggling to get his hefty chocobo to move, "Come on, you dumb bird! This ain't the time to be lazy! Maybe you haven't noticed the giant snake that wants chocobo drumsticks with human on the side for lunch. Come on bird, time to get moving." Barret did not even realize that he was babbling. The nerve that had helped face countless missions against a human enemy shattered before the great hungry animal that had no thought beside filling its belly with the closest moving thing. Barret's large chocobo was hardly faring any better, letting out soft, fearful chirps, unable to will its bulk to move. It did not help matters when several of the dark shadows rose out of the water, leaving the pair trapped between a trio of deadly, ravenous monsters. "Goddamn, can't a guy ever get a break?"

The snakes hissed at each other, gearing up for a fight. Barret was just about to dig his heels in to make a mad dash for safety when the soft thumping of a chocobo's feet on wet ground reached him. The sight of the blond leader riding into the midst of what was shaping up to be a massacre was no comfort. "Cloud, you damn fool! Go back! I can handle it!" Barret barely dared to whisper. The Zolom were sensitive to the slightest sound, that much he had learned.

Cloud paid no mind to the danger, spurring his chocobo right into the middle of the cage of monsters, drawing their attention. "Come on!" he yelled, grabbing the other bird's reins. Jerked from its paralysis, Barret's chocobo could do little but gather its bulk and run. There was a terrible roar as the snakes dived after their fleeing meal. Barret thought that he would finally have the heart attack Marlene always warned him about.

Cloud's bird was fast, more than fast enough to escape the monsters that dived down in chase, but Barret's bird was too heavy, too slow. Just as Cloud was beginning to think they would make it, the big chocobo's reins were yanked from his grasp. He turned back in time to see Barret fall face down in shallow water and the big yellow chocobo bounce along the swamp, faster without its burden, shedding a trail of yellow feathers as one of the zolom dove after it. The water surged where the snake had splashed its forked tail, trying to bring down its prey. Cloud turned back, racing against the remaining two to reach Barret.

Barret pulled himself out of the shallow mud with desperate speed, swearing a blue streak, then broke out running for the shore, hoping to all the saints above that the golden headed rider coming towards him would reach him before the murky green shadows did. His heart lurched as he lost his footing, stumbling into the deep channels through which the zolom swum. He sputtered for a while, up to his shoulders in the slime and scum of the marsh. He twisted uselessly in the water, trying to see where the zolom were, where Cloud was, and where his fat chocobo had run to. Through the water in his eyes, he saw a bright yellow blur heading in his direction. He felt the ripple of the approaching snakes in the water. "Turn back, you damn fool. Too late now," Barret closed his eyes.

Something gripped his collar and yanked hard. Barret's eyes flew open. Cloud was hanging on to his chocobo by sheer strength and acrobatics. His hand was latched onto Barret's jacket as he forced the bird to make a fast about turn. "Come on, Barret! I can't pull you out of the water if you don't help me!" Without even thinking, Barret grasped the swordsman's arm and wrenched himself upwards. Cloud flung him in the general direction of the bird's back. Somehow, Barret twisted his large frame midair to land properly behind the blond leader. The chocobo warked in protest at the sudden weight on its back, but Cloud forced it forward, running. Barret turned his head, still barely able to breathe. There was no trace of his mount and the ripples in the water were speeding closer. He turned to look over Cloud's head. The shore was so close and everyone else was watching anxiously

The chocobo wobbled as the water surged beneath its feet. A dark shadow fell over it. The hideous shriek that pierced the air left no doubt. Barret turned again to see the Zolom that towered over them. "Damn, I'm not just gonna sit here!" he roared and fired a round at it, a direct hit. The snake did not seem to feel it. Instead, it reared back to strike. "Shit! Cloud, move it!"

Cloud wordlessly turned halfway round and stretched out an arm in a potent gesture. Behind, the zolom screamed in outrage, shaking off the ice around its head all too easily. It was a desperate attempt to gain time, giving them mere seconds at the most. "Yah!" Cloud leaned forward, cutting the wind. Barret felt the shift in the wind as the snake resumed chase. He was sure for a moment that the steady thudding he heard was his heart about to explode. Time slowed down in the strange way it does for the dying. Then, without warning, Cloud brought the chocobo to a halt. Barret lurched forward in his seat, almost pushing the blond rider off his mount. Red bounded up from the side, "You made it."

Cloud was too busy trying to breathe to reply. Barret stared around dumbly for a few moments before the words sunk in. "Yeah, we did, didn't we?" Barret slid off the chocobo and looked around. Nothing had ever looked as good as the green, green grass and blue sky above did now. "Damn, Cloud, you one screwed up little shit, but you got some big ass balls!"

Cloud looked over at Barret. He was not quite sure how to respond to that, so he simply slid off the chocobo to stand on shaky legs before giving his bird a good rub on the head. "Good girl," he whispered, before letting the bird go. "Cloud, get over here!" Tifa called out from close to the water. The men turned to see her kneeling beside Aeris, holding the trembling girl.

"What happened to her?" Cloud rushed over.

Tifa shook her head, "I don't know. She started whimpering something about 'unnatural' and then she just sank down. I can't get her to stop shaking." Red padded over and rubbed the top of his head against the Ancient's shoulder.

"Hey, girl, are you okay?" Barret leaned over, "Ain't no reason to worry bout me an' Cloud. We're right here." He glanced over at Cloud, who stood watching the scene with a strangely detached look on his face.

On the grass, Aeris shivered and tried to catch her breath. Awareness replaced the glassy look in her eyes. She slowly looked around as if seeing the terrain for the first time. With surprising swiftness for one who had moments ago been nearly comatose, Aeris whipped her head around and looked at the swamp. Of the mutant snakes whose vicious auras had distressed her, there was no sign. She tried to get to her feet but was so unsteady that Barret and Tifa had to hold her up. "I'm alright now, really. It was just the marsh air. I'm fine," she reassured them.

Her friends drew back once she seemed stable enough, but Barret kept an eye on her. After what she had risked for his daughter, there was no way he would let Aeris come to harm once he lived. "Hm, this way, people," Cloud began to walk deeper into the forest and slowly, the rest of the group began to follow, anxious to leave the stench of mako and snake behind.

Only they did not. Somehow, the stench grew stronger, more putrid, as they walked closer to the sparse wood. Just when Red was complaining that his nose would be out of shape for a week they came upon the reason. Speared on a towering pine tree was one of the zolom, dead, decaying, strung out on the giant tree like bait. "Oh my!" Tifa could hardly speak.

Cloud knew exactly who was responsible, muttering the name of his enemy under his breath, "Sephiroth!"

"Now hold up! Sephiroth did this?" Barret fumed, halfway between anger and awe. To kill one of those things, drag it so far, and hang it on a tree, on a hundred-foot pine no less...it was not humanly possible. He would not believe it, not after what he had just been through.

Behind him, Aeris was staring at the monstrous display of strength and cruelty, her face a stone mask. Red rubbed his head on her knee as if asking if she was all right. She stared in silence for a few moments more, then spoke, her voice harsh and bitter, "I'm glad its dead."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Out on the plains just southeast of the Great Crater Lake, a silver haired man raised his fist to the sky in triumph. "I win this round, Mother. My plan proceeds without setback."

_"So the object of your infatuation actually has the stomach for your work. Apparently the girl has more ice in her than I thought,"_ despite the impression of admiration in her words, Mother remained cold with regards to Sephiroth's chosen woman, _"You had best be careful she does not turn that against you. You expect her to be the willing object of your affection, but her heart may prove unassailable. With the magic at her disposal, you may find yourself facing more than spurned desire."_

Sephiroth was pensive, "So noted, Mother. I really should do something for her, something just for her, to make her smile."

_"Oh, you're hopeless!"_ Mother quietly fumed, hiding the burning intensity of her rage. Sephiroth was being far too hardheaded for her usual round of migraines to affect him. Her hold on his mind was tenuous at best when his thoughts were on that scrawny little Cetra.

"Do you remember what you were saying about presents?" Sephiroth continued blithely, "Perhaps I should get her something special. What do you think she will like?"

Mother refused to answer, but for once Sephiroth was happily beyond caring. So far beyond, in fact, that he almost stepped upon a trooper lying in the grass before he realized it. As the former General covered his surprise, the hapless trooper squeaked in fear, fumbling with his radio in an attempt to alert Shinra. Sephiroth grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, lifting him aloft to fix him with an angry glare.

The young trooper squirmed and spluttered, a half step away from begging for his life but still reaching with shaking fingers for his radio. Sephiroth glanced down at the boy's side, where the radio was hooked, then looked the trooper straight in the eye. The poor boy held the gaze for only a few seconds, unable to bear the intensity of the Mako glare, even in broad daylight.

"Hmph!" Sephiroth was pleased by his power to terrify, "Tell them I am going to Junon." With not another word, he let the trooper fall to earth and began marching northward, while the shaken boy behind him struggled to remember how to work his radio.

* * *


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: **FFVII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work. Original content and characters are mine. **  
**

**Path of Seduction**

** Chapter Three**

Cloud peered cautiously into the half-light of the cave. Mythril caught light and twisted it, reflected it in myriad directions and casting shadows where there should have been none. For the unwary traveler, the dark corners held more than potholes and sharp rocks. Already, Avalanche had faced half a dozen minor skirmishes with what Aeris repeatedly called 'unnatural creatures' with a tremor to her voice. "It's clear," Cloud led the way into a wider cavern to find himself shockingly mistaken. He found himself staring at a head of black hair atop a blue suit on the ledge above him. He bit down on frustration. The figure with its back turned to him could only be Tseng.

Before Cloud could even think about signaling Avalanche to silently back up, Tseng turned. "Well, well, you finally caught up to us."

"Cloud, why'd you stop? Oh." Aeris recovered from her stumble, planting her feet firmly on the ground, her face a mask of determination. She felt the rest of the group gather behind, the soft chatter replaced by cold wariness.

"If you think you're going to take us in, you've got another thing coming," Cloud's voice held a quiet rage. A quick glance showed him Rude standing in a corner and no exit but the one Tseng stood before.

Tseng's answering laughter echoed around the cave, more chilling than the air. "No, as much as I'd like to, I have other orders. The new president doesn't think you're worth the time, although I can't say the same for Reno. He's not happy about the way you left him after your last little get together and he's itching for a rematch."

"He deserved it! And I wish I could have done the same to you!" the Cetra's voice was laced with an uncommon venom.

Tseng seemed amused, "Ah, Aeris. The new president has no interest in you, I'm sad to say," his smile grew sinister, "I'm going to miss seeing you." He quickly noted how Cloud and the black man moved to flank her, and behind, the other woman erased a quick look of hurt.

Before either party could speak a blonde woman in blue rushed into the cave, breathlessly addressing Tseng, "Sir, word from the patrol troops just came in! Sephiroth has been spotted going towards Junon Harbor!"

"Elena, mind what you say and where you say it," Tseng's leer turned into a scowl. He turned to address Avalanche, "I'm sure you have better things to do than eavesdrop on Turks' assignments. Rude!" He turned to leave, followed closely by the eager blonde woman. Rude gave Avalanche a cursory glance before exiting, as if trying to unnerve them with his shielded gaze.

"Damn those Shinra freaks!" was all Barret could say after they left, and the rest were inclined to agree. Cloud was thankful, though, that they at least had a clear destination now.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A silver haired man stood near the edge of the woods, biting down a scream of outrage. A sword swung, a tree fell and a certain Turk's days were numbered.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Instead of blinking blindly into the sunlight in an attempt to survey the terrain, Aeris focused on the grass and the myriad wildflowers at the mouth of the cave. The pale, milky white blossoms, the vivid reds and violets, even the green grass, were all bathed in the warm golden light of early evening. She sighed happily, ignoring the rest of the group as they squinted into the sunlight trying to pick a direction. She bent low to caress a small silky petal and hear the planet hum. Wherever there was life in flower, the planet fairly sang. She did not notice that the others had been waiting for her to finish for quite some time.

"Ahem, Aeris."

"Hm, what? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting," She stood hastily, growing sheepish when she saw the strange, blank questioning look on Cloud's face. "Hey, I miss my flowers, okay?"

The light came back to Cloud's eyes, as if he had just woken up. With a small nod, he turned towards the open plain.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A swordsman lay high in a tree, staring up at the stars through the canopy of leaves. He needed no rest, but yearned for the sleep he could no longer have, for sleep might have brought him dreams of an emerald eyed girl sleeping in a small tent on the plains, under the stars.

It was mid-morning and Sephiroth was hunting high in the trees. He moved with fluid grace from one bough to the next, searching, pausing only to pull his hair gently away from small branches. He knew now exactly what to get Aeris. Now, he just had to find it and he had to be quiet while looking. The puppet's little group had made its way into the forest earlier that morning and although it suited Sephiroth's purposes to have them close, an encounter with Avalanche was not what he had in mind.

What he was searching for was rare, prized nearly beyond naming by those with a leaning towards such things. When he had first learned about it during the interminable hours of lessons long ago, it had been nothing but a useless fact, of no importance to one who would be a warrior. But now it was a treasure worth seeking. He was so caught up with his search that he nearly missed the voices approaching, beneath the canopy of leaves. He stopped to dead stillness poised gracefully on a deceptively slender branch, leaning into the wind to catch the words that floated down.

"Damn, it's hot as Hades here! I'm about to start growing a horn!"

"You wouldn't feel as bad if you didn't think about it," the puppet's voice answered.

The first voice continued with a huff, "Now how am I supposed to not think about it?"

The voices were drawing nearer, almost directly below. Swift, like a gazelle in the treetops, Sephiroth began to move, the only sound being that of leaves rustling. He glanced backwards for a moment to gauge how far ahead he had moved, not sensing what was right in front of him until he ran into it. Whip-fast, he turned in time to see the branches shudder as whatever he had crashed into tumbled to the ground with a shrill scream.

"What's that? Something's up ahead!" The voices behind him approached even faster. He looked down to see a young girl with a Wutanese shuriken picking herself off the ground just in time to confront the puppet and his friends. He used to clamor of the ensuing skirmish to mask his escape into the green canopy.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sephiroth stalked into the little ring of tents that was the Avalanche camp, his offering cradled gently against his chest. The remains of a small fire glowed softly in the center, the scent of the roast that had been cooked on it still lingering in the cool air. Ordinarily, Sephiroth would have cursed the carelessness of not setting a night watch, but tonight, the puppet's negligence suited his purposes perfectly. There was no need for sleep spells and he had gotten into the camp with ease. He paused in the center of the ring, looking at each tent in turn. The puppet slept in the one to the north judging from the fragmented dreams coming from it. Loud snores from one direction and the smell of fur from another. He stood for a moment observing the remaining two. That one there, pitched in a patch of now-closed wild blossoms. It had to be the one.

He focused his will and slowly, the zipper moved upwards, one soft click at a time, so many heartbeats passing between one click and the next. Finally, when the anticipation became almost too much, the tent was open just enough for a six-foot tall SOLDIER to pass through. Stealthily, he slipped into the tent, careful not to wake the sleeper within.

It was a tight fit, trying to get into a one-person tent, without touching the other person. Even in the dark, he could see the honey brown braid that confirmed that his guess had been right. She had snuggled herself far into her thin sleeping bag and lay huddled on one side of the tent. Sephiroth was thankful. She had left just enough space for him. He lowered himself to the ground beside her and pillowed his head on one arm, holding his gift to her in his other hand. His position left him a few scant inches away from her, but still he did not touch her, observing her in silence.

She was sleeping on her side, facing him, her beautiful face just as he remembered. He had not been this close to her before and he hoped she could not hear his heart pounding in her sleep. He could hear her soft breathing. Dear Gods, even in the darkness she could take his breath away. Almost shyly, he put his gift before her.

It was a milky white forest rose, a large blossom, as rare as the girl he was giving it to. Its thick, satiny petals had just the faintest tint of rose and its perfume was beyond compare. It was hardly worthy of her, he knew, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. Gently, he trailed the flower from her forehead, down her cheek. She stirred, and for a brief, terrifying instant, Sephiroth hoped that she would wake, that those fluttering lashes would reveal her eyes, if just for a moment. She settled back down to sleep and Sephiroth was left to wonder what might have happened if she had woken.

His eyes moved downward as he admired the curve of her body beneath the thin cover, then back up to her delicate little hands, which were lying so close to his face. He closed his eyes, brow furrowing, struggling to contain his desire. What would it be like to feel those birdlike little hands on his face, running through his hair, caressing him all over? He wished there was enough room for him to curl up with the near pain his desire was causing. He could hardly breathe as it was, for he knew that if he tried, his breath would come in hot, hard pants. How hard would it be to roll her beneath him and thoroughly taste her?

She stirred again in her sleep and the covers slipped to reveal one perfect, creamy shoulder. Sephiroth put the flower beside her and got out of the tent as fast as he could.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A green eyed girl, last of her kind, woke to find a beautiful white blossom before her, with no sign of how it had arrived there. Her companions knew nothing about it and claimed that there were more important things to think about. Still, the young blond man had looked at her so intently when she placed the flower in her hair with a smile.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Nightfall found Avalanche inexplicably still in the woods, with Barret complaining loud and long about the navigational skills of a certain blond leader. "Now I knew something wasn't working right on the inside of that spiky head. These woods ain't so big that people have to spend a whole day in 'em and still not get out!"

Cloud sighed as he tried to get a small fire started. "Come on, Barret," Tifa answered for him, "All these trees can be confusing."

Yuffie, the latest addition to the group piped in, "That's no reason to be walking in them for so many hours. I bet Cloud here has had us walking in circles all day."

Aeris looked up from her tent. "Now if you two would quit complaining, you might be able to put your tents up faster," she said, with a pointed glance at the Wutanese-style tent that seemed about to fall over, "Besides, we're sure to be near the end by now."

"Or the beginning," Barret grumbled.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Near a river some distance away, a tall man with hair that caught the moonlight congratulated himself on keeping his puppet and the lovely girl traveling with him in the woods. He stepped into the water to wait.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Avalanche lazed around the fire, all anger at Cloud having disappeared with their hot meal of wild rabbit. Tifa sat before her tent, proudly assessing the effects of her cooking. Barret sat half-dozing with contentment. Yuffie was apparently too full to keep up what they had come to recognize as her usual stream of chatter. Red was licking his chops, contemplating the flames, while Aeris was her usual smiling self. Cloud, however, still looked a bit edgy.

"Cloud, are you all right?" Tifa asked.

He looked up, dazed, "What? Oh, yeah, I'm okay." He gave her the closest thing to a smile she had ever seen on his face.

Sensing that the two needed some time to talk Aeris excused herself to take a little walk. Cloud looked up, startled, " Aeris, how far are you planning to go?"

"Not too far. Don't worry. I doubt there's anything in here that's scarier than what I used to run into in the slums. I just want to get some cool air."

"Oh. Well there's a stream a short walk in that direction," he pointed over his shoulder, not questioning how he knew.

Yuffie giggled, "Careful, Aeris. You take Cloud's directions and you might never come back."

Twenty minutes later, Aeris was still picking her way through the shrubbery, her path dimly lit by moonlight, trying to find the stream. She had half wondered if Cloud had just gotten his directions mixed up again, but now she was sure she could hear running water. The trees began to thin and soon, she found herself beside an inky stream, fairly wide, its water sparkling as it caught the moonlight, carrying its stolen sparks of light quickly out to the sea. Aeris hurried over to its banks and chose a large rock that was almost a boulder to sit on. She removed her boots and dipped her aching feet into the icy water, playfully kicking up a small splash. Playing in a river was a novelty to her.

She was so caught up with watching her feet under the water that the sudden splash of something large rising from the water in front of her took her completely by surprise. She jumped in shock and only managed a short, shrill yelp before losing her balance and falling into the water. The icy water that had soothed her feet filled her throat, chilled her to the bone as she hit the bottom of the shallow stream. She sat up with a jerk, up to her shoulders in freezing water, her heart drumming inside her, her breath coming in harsh gasps as she searched at the water around her for any sign of the intruder. The moments stretched out. For the first time Aeris noticed the eerie silence. There were no crickets, no chirping from nocturnal birds. There was nothing but the sound of her own breathing. As much as the silence unnerved her, it lasted just long enough to convince her that there was nothing out there.

She was just about to laugh at her silliness when there was a large splash not two feet from where she sat. She was too shocked to scream as a tall pale being rose from the water and looked directly at her with eyes that glowed with green fire. Aeris' breath caught in her throat. Then, the figure held something out to her and spoke, "These are yours, I believe." She willed herself to look away from those eyes. He was holding her boots, now as sodden as she.

When she made no move to take them, the man stepped closer. Every alarm in Aeris' head went off and she reached over hurriedly, taking her boots as quickly as she could and retreating to her boulder, giving the man no excuse to come closer. All the while, she felt his eyes on every part of her, acutely conscious of how her clothes clung to her figure. Without a word, the man retreated to the other side of the stream and sat in the shallow water, his eyes never leaving Aeris. He reached behind himself, gathering his hair in his hands, then proceeded to wring out the excess water, seemingly completely absorbed in the act. "I didn't mean to scare you," he said softly, his voice a low tenor, "I was only bathing."

Aeris had never taken her eyes off him, watching for any threatening behavior. Now she found she could not take her eyes off him for a completely different reason. He was breathtakingly handsome. He was quite tall, she was certain, and well built. She turned her face away, blushing hotly as she found herself looking past his strong arms and shoulders to the rippling muscles of his chest and stomach. When she dared to look once more, she forced herself to look only at his face, hoping that he would not see her staring. He had a strangely beautiful face for a man, with fine features, but what caught her eyes most were his brilliant green eyes. Aeris feared that he would be able to see right through her if he turned them on her again. They were the color of the lifestream itself and in the dark, they seemed to radiate with an inner light, like Cloud's, but much, much brighter. Was this man a SOLDIER, sent by Shinra to capture them?

Satisfied with his hair the man let go of it, paying no mind to how much of his long tresses sank back into the water. The top of his head was drier now and it drew the moonlight to it in a unique way. Something about the color seemed odd, yet strangely familiar. Aeris would never be sure just how long she sat shivering in the night air before it came to her. From the rare instances the media had managed to get a shot of Shinra's reclusive Great SOLDIER before his apparent death, she recognized the figure sitting before her, lounging in a stream as if he had all the time in the world. She wondered how she could get away. He was on the opposite side of the stream, but his speed and strength were the stuff of legend. If she tried to leave, would he get angry? What would he do to her if he did?

He stirred just as she was gathering her nerve to run, rising out of the water like a river god of old. Aeris stared at the sight, mesmerized by the sheer grace with which he moved, and looked away hurriedly as she realized that he was completely nude. He turned his back to her, walking towards the trees, not in the least bit self conscious about his state of undress. As Aeris stared at him across the water, she felt a surge around her, of one drawing energy from the stillness for a spell. Before she could move away, she felt a wisps of a strong, warm wind, reaching her from the other side, although she was not their target. The former General's hair swirled around him, revealing long strong legs, long muscular thighs, revealing much more than Aeris dared to look at, as the water flew off his skin in a shimmering mist. As he vanished behind the trees, Aeris struggled to regain her breath, fumbling with her footwear.

She managed to get her damp boots back on her feet and begin walking towards the camp. Before she reached the trees she heard a soft voice right behind her. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I let a lady walk around soaking wet?" She turned with a gasp. He was standing right behind her, clad in his uniform of soft black leather. She had to tilt her head far back to look at his face. The alternative was to stare directly at his nearly-bare chest. She wondered if she dared to run, then questioned whether or not she really wanted to. Before she could decide, she felt the surge of magic and the gathering of the wind, focused now on her. She was enveloped in a delicious warmth and a lovely tingling sensation as the water was pulled away from her. She gasped, torn between holding her skirt down and wanting to wrap her arms across her chest as the spelled wind dried her thoroughly.

The wind died down, leaving her warm and dry. With all the courage she could muster she looked up to give thanks for the service. The odd look in the SOLDIER's mako eyes stole her words away. He spoke before she could, "I will escort you back to your camp." It was not a question but a statement of fact and Aeris knew he would not be denied.

She nodded, forcing herself to speak, "All right." She almost could not keep her voice from shaking. A certain softness reached her new escort's lips, the barest hint of a smile. She turned wordlessly to lead the way, all the while wondering what she had gotten herself into. He walked at her side, parting the branches for her. She kept her gaze straight ahead, but all the while she could feel his eyes on her.

Questions ran through her mind like wildfire. Did he want to kill her? If he did, why all the pretence at being nice? Was he planning to abduct her? Would she suddenly find his gloved hand across her mouth and his body atop her own? That he had not laid a finger on her did nothing to ease her fears. What if he just wanted her to lead him directly to Avalanche so he could slaughter them all? Her heart leapt to her throat with this thought.

No, it would not happen. She would not let it. He could do whatever he wanted to her but he would not touch her friends. She turned to face him, looking him straight in the eye as she spoke, " You don't have to walk with me any further. I will be fine from here." She braced herself for the consequences of her words.

He advanced on her with long strides, his face unreadable. She backed away, determined not to let her fear show on her face. She took two steps backward before she felt a tree at her back. With one stride her escort closed the distance between them, leaving her no escape unless she actually dared to touch him to push him out of the way. He looked down at her pale face with burning eyes, leaning in towards her until she could feel the warmth radiating from his skin, smell the leather that was part of his masculine scent. Her breathing was shallow. She feared to inhale too deeply, lest their bodies actually touch. She barely suppressed a whimper as his gloved hand came up to caress her cheek. She closed her eyes, trying to force the blush she knew he could see from her face. When she dared to look up at him again, she glimpsed something like a self-satisfied smirk before he lowered his face and gently touched his lips to hers.

The softest of moans stirred in her throat. She was sure that she would fall if not for his hand on her arm, steadying her. His kiss was soft, sweet. It was tender, not insistent, not taking any more than she was willing to give. It was only then that she realized that she had responded with equal tenderness. He released her the moment the desperate whimper escaped her, showing no remorse for what he had done. He stepped back, clasping her tiny hand in his, then actually bowed to her, brushing his lips against her fingers before letting go.

"Safe journey," he said, smiling, then turned and disappeared into the woods.

Aeris went straight to her tent, claiming exhaustion. She huddled into her sleeping bag, curled up in a tight little ball, trying to stop from shivering, trying to convince herself that her lips were not tingling.

Sephiroth tore through the forest, almost whooping with joy. He had seen her, spoken to her, kissed those glorious lips.and she had kissed him back. He fell to his knees at the riverbank, praising the heavens. Skies above, he knew he had scared her, but he had impressed her too. He saw how she had looked at his body. And he had seen her soaking wet. Few sights could compare to that. He stripped himself hurriedly and plunged back into the stream, swimming back and forth in the water, thankful that it was cold. Soon, soon, he swore, she would be his.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I hope this chapter was worth the wait.


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is made from this work. Original content and characters are mine. **  
**

**Path of Seduction**

** Chapter Four**

"Finally! Bout damn time you got your head straightened out, Spike!" Barret marched into the gloomy fishing village that had once been all of Junon. Now it lay in the shadow of Shinra's largest military base. The name 'Junon' hardly brought to mind images of fish any more. Aeris studied the dank, shadowed ground. She could not help wrinkling her nose at the odor coming in from the harbor. Still, the homes seemed well cared for. Shinra had not stripped lower Junon's inhabitants of their pride.

Beside her, Yuffie was craning her neck up in awe at the massive walls of Upper Junon. "Wow….Damn Shinra!"

"Hm. The elevator's guarded," was all Cloud said.

Aeris busied herself looking around the town again. Very few people were out in the streets but they all seemed to be elderly, or hardened from eking out a living from the sea. She noticed a woman tending a very well kept garden nearby and her curiosity was instantly peaked. Before the rest of Avalanche noticed what she was doing she made her way over to the fence.

"Hello. I was just admiring your yard."

The old woman straightened up quickly with a suspicious look in her eyes, but she turned instantly sunny on seeing a petite girl clad in pink. "Oh were you now, dear. It's an awful lot of work to keep it this way, what with the base blocking the light for most of the day."

"I can imagine. How do you keep the shrubs so healthy under these conditions?" The woman could clearly see that Aeris' interest was not feigned.

"Well, twice a year I bury a dead fish near the roots. Light's scarce but there's been no shortage of dead fish since that base was built." The woman broke off chuckling at the pitiful joke.

Aeris could only sigh but she was pulled from a slow slide into misery by the sudden approach of a little dark haired girl with enough sunshine in her smile to light up the entire town. "Good morning, Mrs. Lane! Good morning, Mrs. Lane's pretty friend!"

"Good morning, Priscilla. Be careful by the water! You hear me, little lady?" Mrs. Lane waved.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Priscilla bounded down the steps and out of sight. Mrs. Lane shook her head.

"Kids! Where they get their energy from, I'll never know! And it's just not safe to play in the water anymore. Not like when I was her age. Now there's all kind of scary things living there, eating all the fish and anything else they can get too."

Aeris was shocked by the last part "Oh dear! Shouldn't someone keep an eye on the girl?"

Mrs. Lane shook her head, "No use really. Priscilla's stubborn and she's been living here all her life. She's only known this place the way it is now so I suppose she's used to it. She knows enough to look out for herself."

"Still, I'd like to be sure she's okay. And I've never seen the ocean before."

"Really now? You do have an inland look to you. There's stairs down behind the house. There's not much to see there anyway, but a pitiful sea's better than none, I suppose. Take care of yourself. I think that young man yonder would be beside himself grieving if anything happened to you," the woman gestured with a tilt of her head and a twinkle in her eye. Aeris turned to see Cloud watching her carefully, paying no attention to Barret's current rant. She turned away, blushing. That was not right. Sometimes, when he looked at her with such unnatural intensity, he seemed like a completely different person. For some reason the look in his eyes brought the memory of running water to her. Mrs. Lane had turned back to her weeding. Aeris quickly left in search of the steps before anyone in Avalanche saw her face.

She was halfway down when Yuffie caught up with her, having practically flown down the steps. "Heya, Aeris! Going to see the sea? Heh heh, see the sea! I'll come with ya. Cloud and the bunch are just gonna spend the next few hours picking up supplies in this little barrel o' fish. I told 'em I'd be down here when they need me. Man, this place is dull. I bet it'll be a whole lot more interesting inside the base, if we can even find a way in. Oh hey, what's that?"

Aeris looked up in time to see a sliver of grey cut the water like a knife. She stood mesmerized as a shrill whistle pierced the air. The grey flash shot upwards, trying to reach the heavens, then flipped a few easy somersaults on its way back down. Aeris stumbled slowly down the steps to the edge of the water, next to Priscilla. "Wow! Is that a dolphin?"

Priscilla turned around, "Yeah. Never seen one in real life before, huh?"

"No, I haven't." Aeris was almost speechless. Yuffie bounced up and down excitedly.

"Did you make him jump like that? Can you do it again?"

Priscilla grinned, "Sure!" She brought the whistle to her lips, more than happy to show off her friend's skills. The three girls stayed on the beach for a long time, the older ones completely entranced by the sight and the youngest bursting with pride. Aeris took a moment to watch the little dark haired girl. Priscilla practically radiated joy and the freshly bound lifestream that had gone into her existence pulsed within her. Aeris closed her eyes for a moment as an unfamiliar tingling ache built up low in her belly. It was Yuffie who saw the disturbance in the water behind Mr. Dolphin, a dark swirling shadow moving straight towards the splashes in the harbor. She drew her shuriken.

"Aeris, go get Cloud."

Aeris reluctantly turned away, "What?" Yuffie's face was uncharacteristically serious. Priscilla blew her whistle but Mr. Dolphin only clicked in the water, refusing to jump.

"Hey, Mr. Dolphin, what's wrong?" The ripples in the water turned into a towering wave and Priscilla screamed.

Yuffie threw her shuriken out like a lightning bolt, yelling at Aeris, "Go get Cloud!"

Aeris turned to run up the stairs as the wave crashed down splashing at her heels. She did not dare to turn around at the hiss behind her, instead focusing on running to Cloud without tripping on the soaked hem of her dress. Cloud was already running towards the noise when she found him. He caught her as she ran breathlessly trying to explain, "In the water…something in the water!"

"Stay up here! Barret, come on!" The men were off and running down the stairs before she could say another word. Tifa and Red ran close behind. Against Cloud's orders Aeris turned back to the scene, falling pitifully behind the others.

The sight of a water snake towering over her friends stopped her dead in her tracks before she was halfway down the stairs. Barret was firing off rounds like a madman. Yuffie's shuriken was only a flash of silver in the air. Cloud, Tifa and Red were throwing every spell they knew at the beast, but something was not quite right. The ache in Aeris' mid-section grew sharp. Priscilla was no where in sight.

"No! No, Priscilla!" Aeris ran down to the battle, guided by fierce instinct. "Cloud! Find Priscilla! Please, you have to find her!" Cloud's eyes widened as he heard her. Without a word he ran straight into the water, ignoring the monster above him. Aeris cast the strongest fire spell she could at it, wanting to make it feel the burning she felt inside. Only later, long after, did she know why her Cetra body ached so.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Man, children sure do talk a lot!" Yuffie grumbled. She did not see the glance Tifa and Aeris shared. Priscilla had been eagerly following them around after Cloud had rescued her. She was eager to tell them everything she knew about Junon fishing village and the base that peaked above it. Her grandfather allowed it in the hopes that Avalanche would at least temporarily keep her out of trouble. Despite the frequent admonitions from all sides that she was extremely lucky to be alive, Priscilla treated her entire rescue and resuscitation as if it were an adventure. Tifa supposed it was, for someone who lived in a quiet little fishing village, though she herself had had enough of 'adventure' in her own little mountain town.

"And Mr. Dolphin's really strong too. I bet he could toss one of you all the way up to the military base level. He can jump higher than that on his own and you should see the size of the logs he can balance on his nose. Sometimes he does a tail dance in the water with a log, if I ask him real nice. Bet if I asked him he would take one of you for a ride," Priscilla continued on, obviously beyond caring whether anyone was listening or not. But someone was listening.

"You really think he could toss me up to the base, sword and all?" Cloud seemed speculative. Priscilla looked him over.

"Well, sure. You're not that big." Cloud frowned a little at that. "But I don't think he could toss all of you up. He'll get tired you know."

Cloud crossed his arms, chin in one hand, looking thoughtful. "I can't go in through the main elevator, even though I'm in my old uniform because I have no ID, so Mr. Dolphin looks like my best bet."

"What about the rest of us, fool?"

Tifa grimaced slightly, then sighed, "Don't worry, Barret. Remember how the guard acted when we talked to him earlier? I think I can get us in."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sephiroth leaned back against one of the crates in the ship's cargo hold to snatch a brief moment of rest. The puppet had followed his call into the city and made it onto the ship. Shinra was aware of his presence as well, as he had intended and, just as he had expected, they had not been able to pinpoint him. It still amazed him how far they had fallen without his guidance.

The rushing sound of the cargo bay doors sliding open stopped his thought. He huddled down against the crate in absolute silence. Light footsteps echoed off the bulkheads. Sephiroth peered through the sliver of space between the crates to get a glimpse of the newcomer.

It was an ordinary trooper, and a skinny one at that. Were they letting any undersized runt into the force these days? And just how lax had the training become anyway? The little trooper had absolutely no stamina or sense of duty, sneaking off to take a rest, panting from the very weight of the uniform. He lacked upper body strength too, and had no idea how to handle his weapon. One might think that he had never held a gun before in his life.

Sephiroth soundlessly drew his blade as the trooper weaved a path between the crates to a spot near the former General's hiding place. Sephiroth had no grudge against the trooper himself, reserving his rage for the trainers and commanders who should have seen that the young one was properly fit before being given an assignment. Still, he would not risk being found too soon and if the soldier's life was the price of secrecy, he had no qualms about doing what was necessary. He focused all of himself on the little one, hearing the soft breathing in the helmet and the rustle of the slender body in a uniform two sizes too large. The soldier stepped backwards, aiming for a crate to sit on while reaching up to undo the chin buckle on the helmet. It sealed his fate.

Sephiroth sprung out from his corner, a silent, savage hunter, and in the space of a heartbeat picked the soldier off the floor and pressed the little body hard against the wall, holding his sword to the exposed skin of the trooper's throat. Only the odd familiarity of the trooper's scent stopped him from opening any arteries. He glared down at the helpless little one for a moment, trying to cover his confusion. There was a long pause.

Then the trooper let out a small, high-pitched squeak. Sephiroth dropped his sword and roughly removed the trooper's helmet. A messy brown braid tumbled out and wide green eyes stared at him. Within moments, the expression turned from terror to one of sheer outrage. Sephiroth grinned.

"I knew you smelled too good to be a soldier," he gently set her down so her feet could touch the floor but did not lean back for her to move away. She was obviously mad at him, but she held back any outburst she may have had, whether out of fear or something else, he did not know. Instead, he focused on just how good it felt to be pressed against the length of her body. He grinned again. She grew angry and struggled to lash out at him, but he held her too firmly. He relaxed his hold as her struggles grew more fervent, not wanting to hurt her. "Take it easy. I'm not going to hurt you. If I wanted to I could have by now."

Aeris stopped trying to kick her way out of his grasp and turned to stare up at him. How dare he be so amused by the situation? He had held a sword to her throat, for crying out loud? Against her will, memories of a walk among the trees and what had happened after flooded her mind. Her blood tingled in her veins and the dull ache, the restless longing deep in her belly stirred once more. She noticed for the first time just how close he was to her and it seemed that he had noted it as well.

He leaned down and caught her lips in a fiery kiss, one that she matched with equal passion, driven by the fire in her blood and the burning in her belly. She barely even noticed when he picked her off the floor again and pinned her firmly against the wall, determined not to let her get away. Somewhere in the back of her mind it occurred to her that this was terribly wrong, that she should stop this before it got completely out of hand, but the very scent of his body was driving her to do things she never thought she would have dared. Neither of them heard the door slide open again, but the shout that followed arrested their actions.

"Oh my God! It's Sephiroth!" Aeris and Sephiroth pulled away from each other with a jerk, though he still hid her with his body. "He's here! He's here! And he's molesting a trooper!" The soldier ran off yelling, raising the alarm. Sephiroth groaned softly and thudded his forehead against the wall while Aeris looked on, surprised.

"More fire to that rumor, I suppose," he sighed. He looked down at Aeris, "Go find your friends."

Aeris stepped away when he let her. "They'll come after you," she said dryly. He could not tell if she wanted him to escape or not.

"I will be alright," he answered anyway, lightly caressing her cheek before vanishing like a weak flame that had been suddenly blown out. Aeris stepped backwards, gasping. Was he still on the ship? She fumbled with her helmet as the ship-wide alarm began its wailing. She was thankful for the headgear that she had found stifling before. Now it could cover the blush on her face and her lips, reddened from kissing. How could she tell Avalanche what Sephiroth had done when her own actions were just as damning? How could she have kissed him back like that? Why?

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was the middle of the peak tourist season and Costa del Sol was bustling. There were tanned people strolling down the streets in as little as possible, something that could be considered decent only in a seaside resort town. The annual beach volleyball tournament was in full swing and all the stores had street side sale racks, giving the main shopping district the appearance of a giant, colorful flea market.

After an exhausting run-in with Sephiroth and the monster that he called his mother, Cloud had agreed to let the team have what was left of the evening off to rest. It had taken some pleading from Tifa, some whining from Yuffie and one look at Aeris' exhausted, troubled face before he approved. Barret had opted to catch up on his sleep at the inn. Red had found himself a cool corner to watch some children playing soccer and Cloud, not relaxing for a moment himself, had wandered off to find the more practical stores in the area. This left the women all to themselves.

Within minutes Tifa and Yuffie had cajoled Aeris into browsing the shops with them despite her pleas for rest. "Get a swimsuit. Then you can nap on the beach and get some sun at the same time," Tifa was unusually enthusiastic and Yuffie was even worse.

"Sunbathing is for wimps. Ya gotta get into the water and ride the waves!"

"Um, I don't know how to swim," Aeris protested weakly.

Yuffie seemed briefly surprised, "Huh? Oh, yeah. You're from Midgar. It's just so weird to me, you know. Growing up where there's no water source, I mean, because Wutai's the home of the Great Water God and we're practically born swimming."

"Yuffie! Aeris! Check these out!" Tifa waved them over to a street side sales rack offering a variety of swimsuits. "These aren't half bad," she held up a rather small, crimson two piece. "What do you guys think of this one?"

Aeris chose her words carefully, "It's nice, but you might want to check for another size." Yuffie was more straightforward.

"Yeah, Tifa. One good wave and you'll just pop out of the top." Tifa examined the swimsuit, glanced down at herself in dismay, then gave a wry smile.

"It'd make Cloud's eyes pop out of his head for sure, but as much as I'd like to see that, it's not good to give away too much too early." She sighed, but eventually found a black one-piece that suited her perfectly.

Then Yuffie began her quest for the suit that met every one of her exacting criteria. It had to be able to stand vigorous sand friction, offer good support and fit so that it would not budge when a hard wave crashed. It also could not be too old-fashioned or any shade of pink, yellow or orange. She flitted from store to store with Tifa following eagerly behind to offer advice and opinions. Aeris trailed behind, almost wilting in the heat of the afternoon like a spring blossom. All she wanted was some solitude to sort out her thoughts. It was going to be a very long afternoon.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris was glad the others were out enjoying Costa del Sol's nightlife. She needed some time alone, to think. What had started out as a short trip from the inn for some fresh air was turning into a long walk, her thoughts weighing heavier with each step. She paid no attention to the cool breeze that tangled her loose hair as if the chestnut strands were a new toy. The wild dance music faded and the colored lights grew dimmer as she headed toward the beach. She paused to remove her boots so she could walk barefoot on the sand.

The lounge chairs and beach umbrellas had been packed up for the night and the sand stretched out into the cold darkness before her. The moon cast a watery glow on the tide that rushed up to her feet and pulled the sand away, leaving her with the sensation that she was sinking slowly. As Aeris walked, she watched the splashes of water her feet made turn silver as they caught the moonlight before falling back into the translucent wave. 'Silver…,' she bit her lip in frustration and sighed heavily.

She lifted her eyes from the water and glanced down the beach, stopping dead in her tracks. Seated on the sand a long way off was the very cause of her consternation. He was leaning forward, resting his arms on his knees, staring intently at the inky ocean. For a brief moment Aeris considered turning back before he saw her, but in that mere moment the man sensed her presence and looked her way. His gaze went through her like a bolt to her heart. There was no escaping the intensity of those glowing green eyes.

Sephiroth smiled, "Aeris," his voice reached her as a whisper despite the distance between them, "Come sit by me." Aeris hesitated. Sephiroth chuckled. "Come on. You know I don't bite." Aeris walked forward wondering why she had wanted to run in the first place. As she approached, she saw that Sephiroth had removed his coat and was using it to sit on. His heavy shoulder armor lay on the ground just beyond him, the dreaded masamune secured between them. Sephiroth leaned backwards on his hands as she came to stand by him, giving her a full view of his well-muscled chest and stomach. "I'm just taking in the view," he was saying, "You?"

"Uh, yeah," she mumbled, her eyes never leaving his body.

"Really?" He tilted his head to meet her eyes. She blushed and looked away quickly. "Sit down, Aeris," he moved aside to make room for her on his coat. She put her boots down on the sand and sat, trying to keep a decent distance between them. Sephiroth seemed satisfied by her action and turned his gaze towards the rolling waves again. As far as she could tell, his attention was solely on the ocean. They sat quietly for a while, Sephiroth watching the sea and Aeris trying hard to do the same. She could hardly keep from sneaking glances at the handsome man beside her.

She bit her lip again. Why was she sitting next to a homicidal maniac? Why could she never remember that he was the very madman they were chasing? She was probably mad herself to keep letting him get so close to her, talk to her, touch her…

She hung her head down rapidly as the questions weighed her down. Sephiroth noticed immediately and turned towards her. "What's the matter, Aeris?"

"Nothing. I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" He leaned closer in concern and took one of her hands in his. Aeris shivered. "Oh dear! You're cold," Sephiroth used the opportunity to put a strong arm around her. "Did you know that in the tropics the ocean gets very warm at night? If you're cold we could go for a swim."

Aeris barely managed to whisper her reply, "I don't have a swimsuit."

Sephiroth's lips brushed her ear as he replied, "Neither do I."


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FFVII or any of its characters. I have borrowed them only because I must write to exorcise the plot demon that has its prickly little hands wrapped tightly around my soul.

**Path of Seduction**

** Chapter Five**

A girl did not survive in the slums by being naïve. Aeris whirled on Sephiroth, breaking out of the soft, dreamlike aura he had carefully constructed around them. "How dare you! Do you expect me to just fall down at your feet and give you what you want? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Sephiroth blinked in surprise, caught completely off guard. The gossamer threads of his half-formed manipulation spell were torn away, giving way before the girl's rage as easily as a spider web. Aeris paused for a moment, debating whether or not to swing her gauntleted wrist across his perfect, pretty face. She decided against it, standing rapidly, boots in hand and anger marring her expression. Sephiroth watched dumbfounded as she spun on one heel and began to march off. Almost immediately the headache began.

_"You see now what I was telling you! I was right all along, you reckless, stubborn idiot! She won't be fooled by your stupid little games!"_ Sephiroth cringed at his mother's tone, swallowing what would have been a desperate scream of agony. His vision blurred with the pulsating tension in his head. He tried to get up, though he knew the futility of trying to outrun Mother's rage. She would push him till he blacked out and let him wake in miserable agony to remind him never to disregard her. Past experience had taught him that, though he had never discovered the reason behind her fierce, possessive protection. The throbbing grew worse, muddling his thoughts. He knew only pain and darkness and his mother's voice, now whispering sweet words in a tone that was a mockery of concern.

_"Now, now, my little one, you'll forget all about that one. She's no good for you. Trust me now. Mother knows best."_ Still the pain grew within him, coursing throughout his body. Sephiroth looked around blankly, seeing only near perfect darkness, and some distance away, a softly luminous pink haze, like dust from heaven. It grew slowly smaller, moving further away. Sephiroth hung his head in despair. Would even heaven deny him the relief he had craved all his life?

_"Forget her!"_

He was barely aware of curling up on his coat or of his pitiful shuddering. "Please," he whispered, "Please!" It was a hopeless last effort, a sad call for help to whatever merciful being might be listening. None had ever helped him before and he knew in his last few conscious moments, that none ever would.

Satisfied at having enforced her will, the creature in his mind fled from it, creating distance between her and her pawn. There was a disturbing presence nearby, retreating, but still uncomfortably close.

The presence in question was raising quite a clamor of its own. Some hundred Cetra voices were shouting, screaming at their last descendant to make her escape.

_"Run away, Dear One, while you still can! The time for confrontation is not yet arrived!"_

_"...not strong enough yet, little one! Don't risk anything now!"_

_"Devious, like the one who owns him. Deception is their way of life!"_

Spurred on by her Elders' fears, Aeris' steady march had become a hurried flight along the beach, though she struggled to keep her footing on loose sand. To compound the situation, the Planet itself was trying to cut through her desperation, prickling at the back of her mind. With one violent surge, the Planet's consciousness broke through to her, a relentless deluge in her bloodstream, flooding down to every pore, literally taking her down with it. She quickly rolled over onto her back, shaking sand out of her hair as she prepared to run for safety once more.

But the Planet was not yet ready to let her go. She was hit once again with the strange sensation deep within her, an inexplicable longing. Aeris struggled to make sense of what the planet was trying to tell her. Had everything gone mad? Had she? It seemed that the Planet was actually trying to pull her back towards what she had just left behind. Did the Planet want to get her hurt, or worse? Where was the sense in it?

She stood, turning towards the stairs that would take her to the main part of town and back to the inn. The strange, emotive humming that was the planet's voice stirred within her, pleading with her not to leave just yet. Cetra that she was, she could not ignore the way her very blood sang in harmony with the voice of the spirit that was Mother to them all. She paused, slowly turning on the sand. The chill wind took her hair as she steadied herself, blocking out the clamor of Cetran elders to focus on that one soft hum.

The Planet seized its chance, drowning her consciousness in way it had never needed to before, rapidly submerging her individuality, wrapping her identity in its own song. The girl felt the voice carry her spirit where it would, away from herself, in true communion with the Planet and exultant in it. She plunged through the depths, sailed the wide plains. She was every crashing wave, every trickling stream and darting fish. She was the feather- light reed and the stately ancient forest. She was lumbering, slumbering plains beast and the sharp-eyed night bird, flying, and then, she was pure spirit, soaring high above a moonlit beach, forever trying to reach kindred among the stars but pulled inevitably back to the center of being by emotion that coiled like rope around her.

She could feel, intensely, every nuance of sensation in every fiber of the vast being she had become. She felt the thrill of the chase, the hunt; she knew the sharp pain of fangs closing upon her throat. She laughed where laughter was and where there were tears, she grieved. She felt it throughout the entirety of her expanded awareness and it was a sharper knife for that.

One solitary sorrow, one pain and torment in particular stood out, calling to her, burning like flames dangerously close, though somehow, shielded. The agony pulsating through her being seemed more on the Planet than of it, alienated, isolated from the soothing ties of lifestream. No child of the Planet should ever have to suffer so. She could not tell if the thought was her own or that of the greater being whose consciousness she shared, but immediately, she was filled with the need to take the pained one into her arms, take the pain wholly into herself, make it part of her, part of the Planet and thus redeem the lost one. It was some time before she realized that the insignificant speck that was her physical form was walking back to the very one she had fled.

In shock, Aeris sprang loose from the connection with the Planet, gasping for air. The world truly had gone crazy and she with it. The ecstasy of her joining with the Planet faded. Disappointment welled up from the space in her mind where now only her usual tenuous link remained, along with one final plea for remembrance, for mercy. The voices of her ancestors faded, still crying out for her to head to safety. She stood motionless, staring along the length of the dark beach. She closed her eyes, taking a few calming breaths as the wind slowed, bringing her the scent of salt and a message, softly whispered.

"Please." Her eyes flew open when she heard it. "Please."

One breathy whisper, full of pain. In the distance, where before glowing eyes had drawn her in, there was only a shadowed heap on the sand. If anyone had been there to see her she would have seemed to be a statue of carven ivory, lit by the pale moon. Only the slow rhythm of her breathing gave her away. She stared unblinking, deep in thought before moving, merely shifting her weight from one foot to the next. Her next move was more decisive.

She began a steady trek back across the beach towards the fallen warrior, walking with purpose. There was no trace of the fear that the Cetra had raised in her. This was her decision and she was prepared to live - or die- with the consequences. She dropped her boots on the sand once more as she approached the huddled form.

He appeared to be sleeping, curled up for warmth against the wind. She knelt beside him, studying his face. He frowned a little in his sleep and his hair had blown across his face like a veil.or a shroud. Aeris shuddered as the thought arose. How had he fallen asleep so quickly? She grasped his wrist to feel for a pulse, to make sure he really was just sleeping. The beat she found was faint, but steady. Hesitantly, she reached out for his shoulder and gently shook him.

"Wake up. Sephiroth, you can't sleep out here. You'll freeze." There was no response so she shook harder. "Sephiroth, wake up! Someone might find you!" He did not stir. Worried that he was sleeping far too deeply for a warrior, Aeris leaned over him and gently brushed the hair out of his face. Fingertips brushed gently against his cheek.

Green eyes flew open, staring unseeingly up at her. Aeris froze, distressed, then leaned back on her heels, giving the man room to sit up. He drew himself up slowly, blinking rapidly as if trying to clear his head, stared directly into her eyes. His expression was blank, as if he had never seen her before. Aeris would never have believed that a great warrior like him could ever wear such a face. Then without a word, he turned to face the surrounding sea and sand as if the beach were the most interesting sight in the world.

Aeris watched him as he leaned forward, locking his arms around his knees, gazing out at the ocean as if he had never seen such a thing and certainly not as if he had been nearly comatose not five minutes before. He sat staring for so long that Aeris felt as if she did not exist. After the scare he had given her and the trouble she had gone through to make sure he was all right, not to mention the danger of simply being in his company, his sudden disregard of her presence was a slight to her pride. Anger welled within her.

"Apologize!" The word left her lips before she could stop it.

Sephiroth blinked, looking over at her in surprise, "Apologize?"

Aeris was almost seething. After all the liberties he had dared to take with her, and his blatant propositioning, he dared to act so oblivious. Aeris could hardly begin the dressing down he had coming to him.

Whip-fast, he met her eyes with his own and his gaze focused to such astonishing clarity that Aeris feared her heart would stop. He held her gaze with his eyes and she, like a startled animal, could not even think of looking away.

"You came back," he whispered softly, "You heard me and you came back." He looked out at the sea, his eyes shining and his voice nearly, nearly trembling with wonder, "You came back."

Aeris found herself speechless. What state of mind was he in? He spoke before she could think further. "Aeris," he began, head bowed, voice soft, "I know I have been extremely forward with you, and if I have caused you discomfort, I sincerely apologize."

Aeris almost sputtered. How did he keep doing that? Every time she thought he would act one way, he kept surprising her, again and again. Just how many facets were there to the silver-haired enigma? She could not help staring. He sat there before her, a pale figure with paler hair, lit by soft moonlight. He would have seemed like a marble statue before her if not for the soft hint of color in his face. Was he blushing?

He turned his head just as the thought crossed her mind. There was a questioning look in his eyes. The very ocean seemed to slow down as she looked at him. He must have been still dazed from whatever had caused him to slump unconscious to the sand. Where was the self-assured hint of a smile? What had happened to the brazen warrior who chased his goal relentlessly? Was this gentle being patiently waiting, as if for an answer simply the result of the as yet undetermined blow to the head? Or had he been hiding all this time, from her, from those who had known him before, from the world? No wonder then, that he had always been so elusive.

"I accept," she whispered, fearing to disrupt the near silence. Her words were rewarded with a gentle smile, a genuinely heartfelt one from the pleased look in those eyes. He turned back to the sea, completely absorbed in his study of waves. Aeris shifted on the sand, debating for a moment before sliding over next to him, resuming the position she had held barely an hour before. He appeared not to notice and that suited Aeris' purposes perfectly.

He rested his chin on his arms, crossed on his knees, and gazed out at the crashing waves, in a little world of his own. Silver locks of hair drifted across his bare shoulders. He paid them no mind, no longer boldly attempting to entice the girl beside him and for that, she was silently thankful.

Aeris mused on their first meeting, shivering as the image of him nude, with water beading on his skin came to mind. She saw, in her mind's eye, the contented look on his face as he soaked in the icy stream. The guilty thrill she felt at remembering the way the water ran down his skin in shimmering rivulets as he rose was irrepressible. And here he was again, by the water, completely entranced by it.

"You like the water very much, don't you?" she asked. Sephiroth blinked, turning suddenly, looking as if he had forgotten she was there.

"What?" he asked, trying to clear the fog from his mind, the remnant of his mother's punishment.

Aeris persisted, "The water. You seem to like water very much."

Her voice cut through the cloud in his mind, much the way her earlier touch had soothed the worst of his pain. He almost smiled as he answered, "I do. A soldier bathes when and where he can, after all." She actually smiled at that thought.

"Fair enough, I suppose," her eyes glowed with hidden laughter as she leaned forward, mimicking his position, content to join his study of waves for the time being.

But he had already moved on from the waves, unable to remove his eyes from her form. The feeling that there was more about his love of water to tell would not leave him. Thinking was slower after one of his headaches and he could not for the world find the words to explain what cool waves and ripples meant to him, how flowing water soothed the ever present burning in his blood, how complete immersion erased his pain much the way her gentle touch had. How could he tell her that her presence drove anguish away, that to him, she was water? She was soothing water and he wanted, even needed to be completely immersed in her. Frustrated with his inability to think clearly, he flopped backwards, stretching himself out on his coat, avoiding the sight of the water in an attempt to clear his mind.

Aeris glanced back, then impulsively imitated his move to lie full length beside him, as if by copying his actions she could understand what was wrong with him. If the Planet willed that she make sure he was all right, then so be it. He lay back with his head pillowed on his arms, staring up at the sky. She turned to study the stars with him, dreamily gazing at the flickering pinpricks of light. Life beneath Midgar's plate had denied her such a view her entire life. Her heart pined, torn between aching at the beauty before her and longing for the loving home she had left behind to find it. She sighed, and beside her, the silver haired one sighed softly with her.

Green eyes met across the small distance between them and just as hastily broke away, letting silence wash over them. The wind toyed with thick locks of hair, silver and brown, making them flutter low on the sands. Their owners paid them no mind, focusing instead on keeping the sounds of breathing lower than that of pounding surf. Aeris nearly lost herself staring at the stars, forcing her mind to relative stillness while wishing her pounding heart into sedation. A sigh escaped her nonetheless.

Sephiroth cut through the quiet first, "They are beautiful, aren't they?"

"What?" Aeris had heard only his voice, not his words.

"The stars. They are beautiful," he glanced quickly in her direction, as of not daring to do more.

'Yes, they are," she smiled, venturing to fill the silence with more than inane remarks, "I never got to see the stars before I left home."

"You are from Midgar, yes?" Sephiroth asked, noting the wistful tone of her voice, "Do you miss it?"

Her eyes grew distant, "I miss my Mom. And my garden. But the city itself.I'm not so sure."

A silver eyebrow arched, questioning, "You do not miss your home?"

"Mom made my home. My garden is home. My church is home. But," emerald eyes widened to reflect the heavens, "I couldn't stay there forever and there's no way that giant plate could compare to this!" She seemed utterly content.

The swordsman smiled again, "Well, my Lady, since you are relatively new to the practice of watching the heavens, allow me to show you the brightest and best players on the field, as named by the wise and wondrous Ancients long, long ago." He won the laugh he had been hoping for and Aeris looked expectantly at him.

"All right. Do you see those six stars that make a sort of rectangle?" He pointed and Aeris tried to follow the line of his arm. At her nod, he continued, "That is Daeran the Protector, a powerful king who set aside his sword and married the warrior queen of his enemy for the sake of peace. Those seven stars a little to the right, the ones that make a cross, are Daeran's Sword."

Aeris smiled brightly, soaking up the constellation lesson like a child hearing a new fairytale. "Is the queen there too?"

Sephiroth grinned back, "She is. Up there." He pointed again, this time at a mass of dim stars that in his mind's eye formed sinuous waves of flowing hair, set against a line of brighter ones that made the silhouette of a proud woman. "The nameless Dark Queen. Ancient Legend had it that they were very happy together." He paused to note Aeris' intense concentration upon the constellation before continuing. "They delighted in outsmarting mutual enemies and meddling in the business of friends."

Aeris laughed again, moving closer to his warmth. "Any children?" Her eyes were full of amusement as she looked at him.

"None that I've heard of."

Aeris closed her eyes in disappointment, "How sad for them." She nudged Sephiroth with her elbow, "Tell me more!"

He could hardly deny the warmth he felt having her at his side. "That L-shape there...that's the one, with the three stars making a small triangle in front of it. That's Vandana the Priestess because it looks like a woman kneeling in prayer." Aeris tilted her head at an odd angle, her head coming to rest against Sephiroth's shoulder.

"I guess I can see that. What's next?"

"That little zigzag over there is Taia, the crown."

Aeris shook her head in disbelief, "That's a crown? It's nothing more than a squiggle."

"Squiggle or not," Sephiroth intoned, "its central peak points directly North and it has been considered one of the most important constellations by sailors and soldiers for centuries."

Aeris huffed with mock disdain, "Important it may be, but I still say it's just a squiggle. I don't see how anyone could look at that and see a crown."

Sephiroth rolled onto his side to face her, amusement etched plainly on his face. "You'll just have to take that up with the Cetra next time you see them, won't you? They're the ones responsible for it."

The warmth Aeris had felt was ripped away from her, replaced by cold gravity. Sephiroth was still smiling gently at her and had apparently meant no harm by his comment. Was he aware that she was Cetra herself, the way he believed himself to be? Was he truly Cetra, cut off from the Planet in a most unnatural way? What could he tell her about her ancestors?

Sephiroth slowly sensed the serious turn her thoughts had taken. The careless grin slid from his face to be replaced by a brow frowning in concern. The wind picked up around them, blowing sand with fierce determination and chilling everything in its path. Aeris shivered violently, feeling the lack of warming laughter acutely.

"Aeris, are you all right?" He reached over to touch her arm, then pulled her into a loose embrace as the icy wind ran over them. Aeris buried her face in his chest to shield herself.

Sephiroth spoke again, "Aeris, it is cold out here. Do you want to go back to your friends?"

She looked slowly up at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Emerald eyes met glowing lifestream. Sephiroth felt his heart thump within its cage, aware that it was being searched and measured.

"No," she whispered, "No, I want to stay here, with you."

The swordsman stared in mild shock until her words sunk in. Then he wordlessly pulled the little woman against him, wrapping her tightly in both arms. Slender arms wound their way around his body and delicate little hands weaved through his hair. The wind howled along the sand, threatening to freeze the pair in their embrace. Sephiroth buried his face in Aeris' hair as he rolled her beneath him, nestling her into the soft lining of his coat and shielding her from the wind with his body.

Gentle nuzzling against his neck made his eyes flutter open. Aeris' face was just inches from his own. He stared, breathless, feeling her heart racing against his own as he searched her eyes and found the permission he had dared to hope for. This time, when he lowered his head to brush her lips, she met him halfway with a soft, chaste kiss. He lost himself in the gentle pressure before moving to press soft kisses on her cheek.

Aeris protested the loss of his lips with a quiet whimper and Sephiroth claimed her mouth once more, delicately nibbling on her lower lip. She moaned against him, running her hands up his chest and around his neck to tangle her fingers in his hair once more. Slowly, he deepened the kiss, obeying her insistent tugging and finding her deliciously open to his attentions. He plundered her lips with furious passion, releasing her only when she pulled away gasping for breath and left her throat temptingly exposed.

Boldly, he moved in to cover her neck with moist kisses, moving lower as she gasped wordless approval. He tenderly traced the neckline of her thin dress with kisses. He could feel her pulse racing beneath his lips, sending an electric thrill throughout his body. When her chest heaved against him he almost lost all control. He reached up again, pulling her arms away from his neck and lacing his fingers through hers. She made no objection when he placed his full weight upon her, pinning her beneath him and holding her hands in place above her head.

He paused as he felt her legs moving beneath his own. The wind had blown her skirt open up to her thighs, leaving her legs bare to the cold night air. He moved his own to shield her skin from the chill, reveling in the feel of her shapely legs against his own even through the leather. He stole one brief moment to catch his breath and gaze at the perfect woman beneath him. The emerald eyes that reflected the myriad stars above were glazed with passion. The sound of her breath mingled with the rushing of the tide. He knew that if he desired it, her body would be his for the taking. His plan could be set in motion. But something held him back, a little prickling at the back of his mind that told him it was too soon. His breath was harsh, his pulse stampeding, but he would ignore his body's needs for her sake, determined not to betray her trust so soon after earning it.

Aeris grew impatient and surged upwards as much as his hold on her would allow, to kiss him again. He met her lips fiercely, tracing them hurriedly with his tongue before demanding entry. He tasted her deeply, with a fervent passion, but even as he relished the outlet for his lust he realized, deep within, that it was not enough. His body craved even this temporary satisfaction, but his heart, long silent, was quietly aching for more.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry to disappoint everyone who was hoping for some wild action. The relationship is moving fast, but not that fast. Feedback is always welcome. Thank you for all your great comments and sorry for keeping you on edge for so long. I really wanted to be sure this was passable before posting it. So, was it good enough for you?


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is made from this work. Original content and characters are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

** Chapter Six**

The streets of Costa del Sol vibrated at night. The dozens of clubs packed into the town's hot spot like eggs in a crate may have had top notch soundproofing systems to keep the noise under the legal limit but the throbbing beat of music shook the asphalt with an upbeat tropical rhythm. The result was an unsafe, unsteady pathway for the weary, inn-bound traveler.

Or at least that was the reasoning Barret was using to explain why the street seemed to keep moving out from under his feet. That and the high pitched whooping noise that was coming from an indeterminate somewhere. Never mind that maybe, just maybe, he had swallowed a few too many drinks trying to prove himself tougher than the blond currently draped against his shoulder. One thing was certain; dead drunk and passed out, Cloud was no featherweight.

Barret swore. The stupid thing about out-drinking a buddy was that if you were still at least partially sober and wanted to be able to live with yourself in the morning, you ended up hauling his sorry ass home. And in this case the sorry ass was also a spiky one. Barret swore again when Cloud's head lolled forward, tickling his nose with the mess of blond hair.

"Goddamn it, boy! Why da hell didn't you just fess up that you can't hold your liquor worth shit, huh?" Barret stopped to adjust his grip. "Now you're drunk off your ass," he wheezed, "out cold," he shored the smaller man up a bit, "and falling all over me! Goddamn it, boy!" Cloud's head rolled limply off Barret's shoulder in reply.

A slight misstep on Barret's part sent Cloud's weight backwards and the blond fell towards the ground. Only his comrade's one-handed grip on his arm kept him from hitting dirt. Barret froze in position with Cloud's wrist in his grasp, completely unsure about his next move. He could feel Cloud slowly swaying behind him but could not figure out how to pick him back up. The fog in his head was winning. He could hardly think. "Aw, hell!"

"Barret, don't drop him!" Tifa ran up from behind, scooping the soldier up as best she could and repositioning him with an arm across Barret's shoulders before moving to support him from the other side. Barret stared intently at her, then squinted, trying to adjust his focus. What was Tifa doing there? Barret had a nagging feeling that she was supposed to be somewhere else but he could not remember. Tifa stepped forward but was stopped short when Barret did not move. She turned to look up at him questioningly.

"Something the matter, Barret?"

The question in his mind could not quite form itself into words. The whooping sound had become a loud whining. If he listened hard enough, he could almost hear words in it. Later he would reflect that he had not given Cloud his due credit for getting him this fuzzy before passing out, but for now, his friend's brown eyes quietly demanded a response.

"Tifa?"

"Yes, Barret?"

Silence.

"How come the street's moving?

Tifa sighed. "The street isn't moving, Barret," she said, stepping purposefully forward and dragging her little entourage with her, "You're just a little dizzy right now. You'll be fine in the morning" Barret accepted her response for exactly eleven steps before he stopped again, raising himself to full height and hoisting Cloud to tiptoes.

"Barret! What is it now?" Tifa protested weakly.

The gunman drew a breath, pausing for full dramatic effect. "Weren't you doing something important?" he announced to the deserted streets, finally able to squeeze out the words he could not before.

Tifa sighed again, muttering a quick prayer for patience before answering, slowly. "Yes, yes, I was."

"Oh," Barret seemed to shrink. "Did you finish it?"

Tifa started walking again. "No, I suppose not, but she's not hurting anybody and she seems to be following along fine without me to hold her hand."

Barret did a spin that would have made a dancer proud, flitting his large form out from under Cloud's arm to face the way he had come. Tifa shrieked beside him as Cloud sank to his knees without the bulk of his support. Barret was too busy staring at the crazy person behind them.

Yuffie was hanging one-handed from a lamppost, grinning insanely and emitting the mysterious whooping, whining, wailing sound. She seemed to think she was singing. The words were an incomprehensible mix of Wutan and the continental tongue, slurred either by alcohol or the little purple umbrella she had in her mouth. She had more tiny umbrellas tucked behind each ear. Barret was still sober enough to be alarmed at the sight.

"Tifa?"

"Yes?"

"I think Yuffie's drunk."

Tifa glanced up at the starry heavens for help, struggling as she was under Cloud's weight. "Please, just let us get back to the inn before they all fall over." Behind her, Yuffie began to sing about being a pretty princess.

"Tifa?"

She sighed, "Yes, Barret?"

"She isn't old nuff to drink. How'd she get that way?"

Tifa adjusted her grip on Cloud and succeeded in heaving him up out of the dusty street. "I told you at the club, Barret. She was flirting with the bartender and told him she was legal in Wutai. Now come over here and help me with Cloud." Barret turned back hurriedly to take his share of the burden, feeling sheepish at abandoning his responsibility.

"Sorry, Tifa. I'm not thinking too clearly right now. I feel like it's coming and going, you know, my common sense." Tifa nodded at him with understanding in her face, all the while internally pleading for the inn to magically appear at the corner.

The whole thing, the whole 'night on the town' thing, had gone terribly out of control. There was no denying it. Tifa trudged onwards, growing wearier of playing 'shepherd' with each step. They had lost track of Yuffie almost the moment they stepped into the club and Tifa, feeling some sort of responsibility for the girl, had run off to find her. After an hour's unsuccessful hunting among the writhing, throbbing, sweating crowd on the dance floor, Tifa had returned to the table the men had claimed, only to find them well into their macho little alcohol game. Barret had seemed none the worse for the wear at the time but Cloud had already been bobbing and weaving.

"Itsss not over, Teef. Not till Ah'm da lasss one standing," Cloud had waved her off with his empty shot glass when she 'suggested' that he had already lost. It had not helped matters any when she finally spotted the ninja girl, getting a little too friendly with a young, sly-eyed bartender. The man had not been too happy when the 'Big Sister' showed up, glaring murderously at him before pulling the tipsy under-aged girl away, but he did not seem inclined to argue either.

"Aww, Teeefaa, I was only straightening his bowtie," was Yuffie's protest. Didn't that girl have any idea of the danger she had put herself in? And now it was going to be 'Tifa. Tifa, Tifa' all the way back to the inn. Really, how had she managed to get into this situation? Aeris had been right to take the opportunity to rest. But then again, the situation could have been much worse without someone to look out for the rest of them.

Tifa mused wryly on the strange logic of it all. She was a trained fighter with the endurance to put up with hours of any physical ordeal. Aeris was just a flower girl and, Tifa was fairly certain, had no experience at handling herself in bars and clubs. The truth was there was no one better in their little group than Tifa herself to get the rest of them back to the inn safely. They certainly were an odd bunch to be heading out after a crazed killer. Tifa drew in a deep breath, gearing up for the final stretch as the inn came into view.

Barret was moving with more purpose now. Cloud showed no sign of waking before the next ice age but Tifa supposed he would be alright in the morning. Late morning, she corrected, remembering just how hazy he had been before he passed out. His bravado was going to cost him when he finally got up. Hopefully he would actually learn something from it. It was so like him, always trying to prove himself, the lengths he would go to for just the chance of a little notice or approval, so much like him.

"Yippity skippity! Home we go! That's home, right, Teef? It's home, isn't it?" Yuffie began skipping in wide circles around her teammates, bouncing around as if she had eaten rocket fuel for breakfast, threatening to explode upwards any second.

Tifa sighed again. "Yes, Yuffie, that's where we're going." At least it appeared that the bartender had not slipped any kind of sedative into Yuffie's drinks.

"Yay! Man, am I tired. Aren't you tired, Tifa? I'm tired, but I still wanted to stay. My gawd, that bartender was so cute! Oh man, if I wasn't already.well, never mind. It don't matter. I'm the Snow girl! I'm the Snow girl! Nobody gets near me cuz I'm the Snow girl!" Yuffie erupted into a terrible imitation of song, repeating the last phrase over and over, right up until they reached their doorway. Luckily, the streets were deserted, or Tifa was sure they would have had a few rocks thrown their way.

Barret silently took Cloud's weight upon himself as they edged along the main corridor of the inn, able to act fairly sensible even if he could hardly articulate, while Tifa fished out the keys. She struggled for a moment in the darkness before pushing the door open into the small hallway that separated the two bedrooms of the little suite.

"I'll get Cloud into bed. Can I trust you guys to take care of yourselves?" She tugged Cloud to the room on the right.

Barret leaned one arm against the doorframe for support. "I'll just get a glass of water and I'll be okay again." He noted the weariness in Tifa's eyes as she nodded to him. "Hey, don't stress yourself out over Spike there. He's a tough little nut. He don't need nobody to baby him, just somebody to keep his ass out of trouble."

Tifa smiled softly at what was Barret's gruff concession to sentiment. Yuffie had already vanished into the other bedroom and judging from the silence, must have finally passed out. Tifa was grateful that the girl had not seemed to have woken Aeris. She focused on hauling Cloud over to the narrow bed close to the door and dropped him unceremoniously onto it. He landed on his stomach in an undignified sprawl, in no condition to protest the treatment.

"Oh, Cloud," she mumbled through her exhaustion at him. She pulled the lone chair in the room to the side of the bed and began unlacing his boots. She was slumped over in the chair, fast asleep, when Barret found her.

He moved as quietly as his large frame would allow across the wooden floor. Stealth was not his strong point, but he did not want to wake Tifa. He tiptoed past the blond's bed, past the sleeping form of Red XIII curled up on the floor, past his own bed to the open window that afforded him fresh air and a view of much of the beach.

His vision was a little fuzzy still, but his head felt much clearer. He stared out at the beach, stretched out like a grayscale landscape before him. There was no way to make out any details in the dark. He could see the surf breaking, crisp white against the inky black ocean. The sand looked just like a sidewalk, cleaner than the ones in Midgar, of course, and smoother too, if one didn't count the boulder in the distance.

Barret narrowed his eyes, slowly puzzled. He did not remember seeing any boulder on the beach during the day. What the hell was that? He studied the amorphous black shadow for a while, dully wondering what it could be. It was when the shape shifted to allow the distinction of the silhouette of a head, with arms wrapping around where a neck should be that he realized what it was.

"Whoa!" He stepped away from the window, glad it was too dark to see any details. "Damn kids! Anytime, anywhere, they just got no restraint!" he muttered, turning away as quickly as he could manage to sit on the bed and start working on his boots. "Gotta make sure I have that talk with Marlene when she's old enough. Don't want her getting into trouble." Barret's thoughts were taking an uncomfortable turn. But then, any thought related to Marlene growing up made him shudder. He collapsed backwards onto his pillow, thankful that he at least had a few more years before he really had to worry about it and let sleep come.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

She was beautiful in the morning.

It was the first fuzzy impression in Sephiroth's mind as he woke from the sleep he had craved, for years it seemed. A blessed restful sleep, with soft, hazy dreams, fading from memory even as he opened his eyes, resting them first upon the one who had afforded him such respite.

She rested securely in his arms, short wisps of hair forming a fine veil over her face, her expression mirroring the serenity he felt inside. In an unintended move, fleeting and so very tender, he brushed the hair out of her eyes, gaining a soft murmur, though she did not wake.

He could feel the sun's first weak rays upon him, more brilliant than warming in the early morning. The salty air was still cool, carrying the faint cries of rousing sea birds. On rare mornings like this, the world seemed a gentler place. Sound, light, even thought, all were muted, softer, as if all existence wished to extend one restful moment for two lonely people who had somehow found each other.

Sephiroth hovered on the edge of sleep, in a half-dreaming eternity where there was no other but the woman curled up in his arms, seeking his warmth in her sleep. Slender hands brushing against his bare chest were enough to make him wish to never wake again.

All his plans, his destiny, his birthright, it could all wait. If he could have this moment, he needed nothing else. His mind stubbornly warded off the impending awareness, though it seemed to knock louder upon the door with each breath. There was a twinge of something - loss- deep inside. What little part of him that had already woken knew that this rest, this peace, could not last forever.

She would wake, as would he, and if they wished to avoid detection, suspicion, and awkward, hopeless attempts at explaining, especially for her, they would have to soon. That little realization was all it took for consciousness to get its toe in the door. Sleep slid away.

"Aeris! Aeris, it's time to wake up," he nudged her gently. She shifted and seemed about to rise, but she simply rolled over instead. Sephiroth frowned a little, and if he had known it, would have been glad that she was still sleeping and could not see his pout. He nudged her again, calling her name. The girl settled back against his chest and instinctively grasped his warm arms closer to her body.

Sephiroth made a sound between a grunt and a purr. He would have liked nothing better than to lie right back down to sleep, but it was no longer the right time and place. For a moment, the idea of waking her up military style crossed his mind, splashing cold water on her, or rolling her roughly onto the sand, but he doubted she would be happy with that, and it would not get him any closer to his goal.

"Aeris, we have to go. The early swimmers might be out here any minute! Come on, little one, time to go! Cloud might be missing you already." The effect was instantaneous. Aeris sprung up with a look of utter alarm, eyes wide, but still seeing whatever dream she had been immersed in. Sephiroth frowned, trying to squash the unease in his chest. Why wake at the mention of Cloud?

Aeris blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then looked over at Sephiroth, giving him a gentle smile that eased his worry. She was still clearly tired. Sand did not make the most comfortable bed. He rose gracefully and Aeris could only stare at the way the clear morning sun caught his hair, lighting it to a luminescent silver fire. This was what angels looked like, she thought, and dared to hope that if she had a guardian angel, he looked like the man before her.

He leaned down and picked up her foot. In a moment of fuzziness Aeris tried to pull away, before realizing that he was helping her with her boots. He slid one on and fastened it tight, frowning in distaste at the unsightly footwear. Aeris guessed what he was thinking. "Mmm, they're my gardening boots!" she protested weakly. He smirked at her and appeared to be holding back laughter. Being laughed at, even quietly, was not Aeris' idea of starting the day.

Before she could argue, Sephiroth brought her bare foot up and quickly kissed her ankle, staring at her with half-lidded eyes as he tasted her skin. Any protest she had died in her throat, smothered by the thrill. She sat in amazed silence as Sephiroth put her other boot on, hands moving with a spare efficiency, like a good soldier's should, though it seemed they strayed a bit higher than necessary, fingers lingering longer on bare skin than they should have.

Sephiroth helped her up and led her to the water so she could splash some water on her face. It was ice cold to the touch. When she turned around, the warrior had already fastened his coat and was busy repositioning his armor. Wordlessly, he held a hand out to her. She took it, savoring the feel of soft leather at her fingertips, and let him lead her along the sand, back to the stairs.

The way to the inn was deserted, most people taking advantage of the long tropical days and sleeping in. The sunlight was still too weak and cold to attract anything other than ocean birds to the shore. Aeris let the man at her side lead her where he would, never pausing to question how he knew which inn to lead her to. She could only focus on his gentle grip as questions struggled to reach surface of her thoughts and died half-formed, drowned in the serenity that had welled up in her. It was not long before they stood in the shade of the inn's doorway.

"Can you make it to your bed from here on your own?" Sephiroth asked, taking both of her hands in his. She stared at him, wondering at the concern that seemed to shine out from behind the mako glare in his eyes. Funny how she had not thought he would be capable of such a feeling. He waited patiently for her answer, but she could only nod in response.

He smiled as he brought her hands up to his lips to lay soft, moist kisses on her fingertips. Later, alone and late at night, Aeris would wonder where he learned to steal a girl's breath away so well, but for now all she could do was make a wordless murmur. Sephiroth put his palm to the door and with no motion, the knob clicked and turned on its own. As the door swung open, the warrior bent down to press a kiss against the girl's forehead, as tender now as he had been passionate the night before. Then he gently ushered her inside and turned away.

A pang of bittersweet longing flowed into Aeris' heart where before there had been peace tinted with the recent, unexpected delight. She did not know how, despite his mind's attempt to silence it, the warrior's own heart echoed the sentiment. She watched him walk away until, though he had stayed in her line of sight, he simply was not there anymore, then turned to find her bed.

She wandered down the hall in a daze, too sleepy still and too confused by his actions, by hers, to make any sense of what she was feeling just yet. The door to Avalanche's suite was surprisingly open. Or perhaps not. Maybe he had done that one too. It was remarkably quiet inside, but then, none of her teammates were really inclined to get up early unless they had to. They must have had some night, she mused as she tiptoed down the hallway to the suite she was supposed to have shared with Tifa and Yuffie, and hoped that they would stay asleep for some time yet.

She pushed the door open slowly, fearing that any creaking would rouse her friends. It swung open noiselessly to reveal Yuffie slumped diagonally across the closest bed, fully clothed and on her stomach. Aeris smiled a little at the sight, too tired to realize that her friends might have noted her absence in the night. She didn't even notice the unmade bed near the window, where Tifa should have been.

Instead, she slumped down to her own bed, fingers fumbling as they worked to undo Sephiroth's work on her feet. Yuffie had not even managed to get her own boots off. Aeris flopped back onto her pillow, not even bothering to climb under the sheets. The warmth they would have given, though infinitely more familiar, was not the kind she sought to recover. She settled in, quickly sinking back into her world of dreams. The bed was soft, so very soft, but even as sleep reclaimed her, Aeris couldn't help feeling that there was something...missing.

A lone figure strode through the grass, heading toward a narrow pass in the mountains, his mind at peace, so rare for him. Slowly, the calm was over- ridden by other thoughts, the memory of soft, sweet skin, gentle gasps of surprise, fleeting touches along his chest, slender fingers in his hair. Peace drowned beneath the sudden surge of desire. He wanted more, craved it, and would not stop till he had drunk his fill of the slender body he had held beneath him that night. Deep within, his mind burned at the thought of her.

And deeper still, another mind burned with unholy fury.

* * *

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the super long delay. I have just come off the worst case of writer's block I've ever had. And I know nothing much happened in this chapter, just fine detail. I am so sorry. I know where I was starting and I knew where I wanted to end up, but I had no clue how to get there. Let this be known as the corny way Avalanche never noticed Aeris was gone. Thank you for all the beautiful reviews on the last chapter. I'm so sorry to disappoint with this filler chapter, and again, I am so terribly sorry for the delay.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is made from this work. Original content and characters are my own.

**Path of Seduction **

**Chapter Seven**

It was funny, Cloud thought, how wood could both amplify and muffle sound. He sat at the small kitchen table with one ear flat against the surface, one arm over his head, and stared at the glass a few inches in front of him. It contained a very strange homemade milkshake. Tifa had said he should drink it. He knew deep down that he probably should drink it. But his stomach was not quite open to the idea. His stomach was not open to anything at the moment and seemed it would be that way for quite some time. And he couldn't quite lift his head off the table. It must have grown heavier during the night.

So he was stuck half listening through the table to the strangely muted sounds of the argument his friends were having in the bedroom next door. The words were lost, but the tone remained, gaining a mildly vibrant echo for the sharpness it had lost. The deep huffy sounds meant that Barret was mad at something. A higher pitch in a subtly wheedling yet reasonable tone was probably Tifa. Cloud stared at the glass again. A drop of water rolled down it, picking up speed as it went. He probably should drink it. Yuffie had drunk hers instantly and was her chipper self in no time at all. She had bounced all around the suite, making his headache worse until Tifa threw her out, telling her to swim it off on the beach. Cloud wondered how warm the milkshake had gotten from being out on the table. He probably should drink it. They had important things to do. Tifa and Barret did not seem to be getting anywhere. He heard light footsteps through the wood, followed by a blur of pink over the rim of the glass. He closed his eyes.

Aeris yawned and stretched. "Good morning, Cloud! What you got there?" Blue eyes opened slowly and took their time focusing.

"It's a milkshake... for... for ha... hangover," Cloud breathed out, "Teef made for me."

Aeris had come across more than a few drunks walking through the slums, some of them the ones who had just woken up in the gutter. She peered at Cloud closely with genuine concern, and a dose of wood sprite mischief. "What did you do last night?" Cloud frowned, his eyebrows taking up an eagle-like posture. He gaze seemed to turn inward, as he seemed to search inside his head for an answer. He came up blank.

"I don't know," he drawled, blue eyes innocent, "What did you do?"

Aeris jerked back, suddenly serious. No, he could not have meant that as the accusation it had felt like. He had no clue. He did not know, he had not seen.he was not thinking clearly right now. Aeris took a breath, laughing at herself a little, inside. Just her nerves getting the better of her. Cloud couldn't know where she'd been last night, what she had done, or almost done, or the one she had almost... She forced her mind away from that train of thought. She could deal with it later. "Why don't you drink your milkshake, Cloud? Tifa made it just for you."

Cloud drew his arm over his cheek as his eyes grew pained. "I don't wanna... don't wanna drink nothin' more. Not feeling good." His reply was muffled by his arm, but the look in his eyes and the green look to what parts of his face were visible lent support to his words. Aeris tried to coax him further.

"Come on, Cloud. I'm sure it's good. She's a bartender. I'm sure she knows a thing or two about hangovers." He turned a pair of big, blue puppy eyes on her. She sighed. "Oh, alright, but don't tell her you turned down her cure." She called to the thread of lifestream that was her own, opening the channel for the Planet's natural healing just a tiny bit, transforming it as only Cetra could for the situation at hand. With the power in hand, she reached out for Cloud's shoulder and let the soft glow in her mind flow where he needed it most, curing his headache first, then turning to his stomach, then to directing the toxins along the path to their destruction faster than they would have gone on their own. Blue eyes blinked owlishly up at her.

Cloud sat up. There was no pain, no nausea. And his head was back to normal. He felt as if he had just had eight solid hours of the best sleep of his life. His mouth still tasted like a dumpster but other than that he felt great. "Wow... I mean thanks, Aeris!" She stepped back to survey her work, arms crossed and a satisfied smirk on her lips.

"You're welcome!" She took his chair as he got up, presumably to try to settle the 'discussion' next door. "You have any idea what's in this?" She tilted her head towards the untouched glass.

"Um," Cloud idly scratched the back of his head as he tried to remember what Tifa had blended together without also remembering how much torture the sound of the blender had been, "Banana, and milk. And some strawberries and honey. And some vitamins, I think."

Aeris looked interested. "You want it?" Cloud shook his head.

"Nah, I've got an appointment with the business end of my toothbrush," he said, grinning sheepishly.

"Mind if I have it, then? It sounds good!"

"Go ahead. Shouldn't let it go to waste." He watched absently as Aeris reached for the glass, how her eyes brightened after the first tentative sip, then how she drank it down eagerly. Funny how some people could be so casually graceful when eating. The thought was distant, as Aeris seemed to be. He felt odd, as if he was looking at her from very far away, as if she were the light at the end of the dark tunnel he was trapped in.

"Mmm! Good breakfast!" The ringing tap the empty glass made as Aeris set it down on the table brought him back to himself. He wondered vaguely where he had gone. He did not give it much thought though, instead wandering towards the bathroom as Aeris went to the sink to wash the glass. Four vigorous, minty scrubbings and a minute-long gargle with nearly caustic mouthwash later, he joined Tifa, Barret and Red in what was supposed to have been the men's bedroom the night before.

The slender Traveler's World Atlas they had picked up in Junon lay on the bed closest to the door, open to the page showing the areas around Costa del Sol. Barret stood at the window, arms crossed and refusing to look at anyone in the room while Tifa was busily talking about saving time. Cloud looked down at Red, confused. Red gave his equivalent of a shrug, rubbing one ear on his shoulder.

"Barret doesn't want to take the path through the mountain. I don't know why." Red's one eye showed mild confusion, but he seemed calm, content enough to let the two-leggers sort themselves out no matter how long it took. Cloud was not that patient. He strode over to the map, brows furrowing as he took in the lay of the land, the closest towns, the warning marks for dangerous monster territory. It was no decision, really.

"We're going through the mountains," he stated firmly, waiting for his words to take effect. Barret turned. Tifa paused. Her expression went from puzzled to triumphant.

"See? I told you he'd say that! There's no way we could cross that river and walk all that way without somewhere to rest and restock!"

Barret huffed and turned back to the window just as Aeris walked in. She smiled, seemingly oblivious to the undercurrents of tension. "Look what the catfish dragged in!" A bathing suit clad Yuffie followed her into the room with a springy step, which was normal, and dripping wet, which was not.

"Oh man, the surf's up, the water's rolling and I had the whole beach practically to myself!" she rattled, spinning around and showering the room with salt water. "No better way to start the day!"

"Girl, get yourself a towel, dammit!" Barret snarled, inexplicably angry and looking for a target. "Didn't your momma ever tell you not to track up the house?" The effect was instantaneous. Yuffie seemed to visibly deflate, becoming, for a moment, limp and silent before her body went rigid and her eyes burned.

"She's dead," the words dropped like ice in a bucket, colder than any of them had ever heard from the young ninja. She turned sharply on one heel and stormed out, spine stiff as board. Silence blanketed the little room for an uncomfortable moment. Cloud fidgeted for a moment, unsure of what to do. Aeris quietly took a seat next to the map. Tifa glared at Barret, who had the decency to look embarrassed despite his posture, before heading towards the door.

"Don't!" Aeris stopped her midstride. "Let her be. She doesn't want pity now." Intent arrested, Tifa opted to sit on the other side of the map in silence. Aeris had that uncanny instinct for such situations. Cloud moved in, banishing silence with practicality.

"The mountain pass will take us to North Corel. We'll cross the Corel reactor on the way, but from all reports, this one doesn't have anything too dangerous hanging around it. If we had some transportation, maybe we could have cut through the river and headed straight to Cosmo Canyon." Red's ears swiveled forward and upwards, interest piqued, but Cloud continued with no further mention of the place. "But since we're not exactly platinum card holders," here he stopped, shrugging apologetically, "we're stuck doing it the hard way. Walking is longer, but remember, Sephiroth's on foot too." He reached over and closed the atlas, seating himself in the space. "We'll catch up to him. I have a feeling he's headed through the pass too."

"You seem to be feeling better, Cloud," Tifa smiled at him, her eyes gently eager and hopeful. "I told you that milkshake would work."

"Oh, I didn't need it," he replied blithely, missing Aeris' wide-eyed look of anxiety. "Aeris did some magic... Ancient thing, I guess. Worked like a charm, too." The foggy memory came back to him. Don't tell her you turned down her cure. He looked at Tifa just in time to catch her looking crestfallen and see how fast she drove the expression from her face. He shut up, swallowing the shame, but Tifa spoke up cheerily.

"Well, I'm sure something like that would work better than the regular human methods." Her words were cover enough to smother the little disappointment. Her eyes flicked nervously over at Aeris, who was squirming inside.

"It was a really good milkshake. I hope you don't mind." There was more going on here than Aeris was comfortable with. She was saved from anymore shamefaced conversation by Yuffie's reentry. The girl was solemn, dressed and dry, still toweling down her hair but showing signs of neither rage nor grief.

"Which way are we going?" her tone was oddly dry. "We should get moving. We've lost enough time as it is already."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

She was walking through the mountains now, with a dreamy, far-off look in her eyes, wordlessly stepping over rock and twig, trailing close behind her friends and yet so distant from them. She did not see the blue eyes fixed upon her, could not see the green ones behind them. Where did she wander that her feet did not? Was she thinking about him? About his face? His voice? Did she long for the feel of his skin against hers? For warm breath and the feathery touch of eyelashes brushing her cheek as lids swept closed? The glow in his eyes dimmed as his consciousness turned further inward, exploring thought, feeling and recent memory.

_Emerald eyes widening as bold hands stroked her from shoulder to hip... soft whimpers as teeth nipped the tender skin of her throat. a pulse quickening beneath his tongue... slender hands, graceful fingers, weaving themselves into his hair... dark hair with a life of its own entwining itself around his hands... soft curves within his grasp... a fragile body laid out for him to caress or crush at will._

He forced himself away from the deepening pool of memory, knowing that he could drown in the green depths if he waded in too far. He could not afford to take that chance. Not yet. Not until he was sure she would meet him halfway, with the same tempting memories swirling in mad rushes about her soul.

The blond clone would lead her through the reactor, along the train tracks, across the slender bridge. Her friends would protect her from all harm. They would escort her safely through the pass, across the land, and sometime, somewhere, she would be alone. They would bring her.

He would claim her.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Barret had grown increasingly quiet as the small group treaded single file across the narrow, shaky bridge. He had been unusually silent since they had left Costa del Sol. His usual smattering of complaints was non- existent. His steps were slower, lacking their usual brashness, and his shoulders wore the stoop of a man who had abandoned all pride. The change from brazen rebel leader to almost robotic look-alike should have been noticeable to anyone with half a brain. Sometimes Tifa wondered about Cloud.

The blond had not noticed a thing, barely saying a word himself. He had forged ahead single-mindedly, almost racing through the path. On the railroad it had been all the team could do to keep up with him. He had cut through monsters tirelessly, slashing and thrusting like a man possessed, only rarely sparing a steady, piercing glance for those trailing behind him. For her.

Tifa bit her lips, swallowing the rising tendrils of jealousy as she measured her footing. She had no right to it. She wasn't his girlfriend, never had been. Truthfully, she had hardly been even a friend to him as a child, when he had been so small for his age, and clear blue eyes, brilliant even without the glow of mako had so often gazed longingly up at her window. He had needed a friend and never had one, mostly because she could not find it in herself to reach out to the one her parents called 'bastard'. She had not known what it meant then. None of them, her friends, had known, but they knew it was bad, and it was enough for them to keep the little blond boy as far away from them as possible.

So now, if his eyes, his heart, turned towards someone else, someone who had been nothing but kind to him from the start, who was she to complain? She had known pain and loss too late in her life to understand anything of his childhood insecurity. There was no way to change what she had done. The past was set in stone... though perhaps his was a different kind of stone all together, hard, ugly granite to the polished marble of her life. She could not help him. She would only make things worse. Better to leave him with what strange version of his childhood had made her a friend. Best to leave him to the flower girl who was so clearly winning him over. She had lost that fight before she had even realized it was worth fighting.

And so she contented herself with mothering the rest of the team, tempering Yuffie's exuberance with her own experience, offering Red kind words to soothe his distress at being so different and keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of Barret's usually explosive temper. Cloud was looking out for Aeris, lost as she was in her own little world of dreams. The flower girl, silently smiling into the snowy lily she had somehow found in the brush around the reactor, freshly-cut and lying on the green as if left there for her to find, needed no more help. And if Tifa dared to look, no one else truly did. They were all quite capable of fighting off the mako-twisted beasts they encountered, equipped for slaughter and prepared to heal themselves. Yuffie only grew sullen at being fussed upon, keeping up a steady grumble in Wutanese, as if resenting the presence of a watchful older female. The look in Red's one eye, had he been human, would have certainly meant he thought she knew nothing of what she kept trying to talk about. She could not shake the feeling that he was silently laughing at all the two-leggers around him. And Barret didn't give a damn, sinking into a silence that even a direct hit from a vicious bird-like monster had failed to pull him from. Tifa had never felt so useless, stepping off the high rope bridge and onto solid ground in silence. There was nothing she could do but follow Cloud and try to stifle the tightness within whenever he spared a long glance backward that was not for her.

After all, she was not the only one affected by Cloud's occasional militaristic passions. The entire team was more silent, less cohesive, the blond's practical, ruthless mannerisms like a sharp wedge between them. They followed because there was no other choice. He was their leader, chosen by vote and equipped for the position, so if sometimes his posture and expression screamed that he would brook no time-wasting questions, there was nothing to do but keep up until it passed. For the most part it seemed to be nothing but a small nuisance to the rest of them. They did not seek to know what went on inside Cloud's head the way she did. They suffered through his moods with only mild wariness on their part and none of the aching worry she felt herself. Aeris alone seemed untouched by their leader's shifting moods. Tifa doubted the girl was completely oblivious to it. She possessed a fine internal radar for the tides of emotion. What did the Ancient know that let her relax? Perhaps it was the light of blue mako eyes that turned her way so often that let her walk in peace. Tifa knew that she would rest much easier if those eyes had ever once turned her way.

"Where the hell is this Corel place anyway?" Yuffie's sudden switch to the Continental tongue jolted Tifa out of her wistful musing. "We passed the reactor already! We should be there by now!" Out of the corner of her eye, Tifa saw Barret's shoulders take an unmistakable slump, though he said nothing.

Red lifted his head and sniffed the air. "We should see something soon. I smell cooking-fire and a settlement."

Tifa wondered briefly exactly what a settlement smelled like. Before she could voice the question, the path widened to a small clearing, rocky and barren, occupied only by a tents, rubble and the heavy aura of despair. The few people going about their business mirrored their surroundings, desolate and hopeless. Barret stopped at the edge, finally brought to a halt by whatever burden had slowed him, allowing the others to stumble past him and look around in shock. Yuffie was the first to recover.

"What the heck happened here?" Though Red said nothing, adopting the silent guise of a pet as he usually did in human settlements, his lone eye was lit with the same sentiment. Cloud's military stance lost it's rigidity, his face regaining the softness of expression that Tifa was more accustomed to seeing.

"It was the reactor, wasn't it?" he said quietly, to no one in particular. "I heard it had malfunctioned a while back, but I didn't know it was this bad." He studied the lay of the land intently, noting the merchants selling what little they had out in the open, the inn on the outcropping above and only after that, the hawk-eyed old woman scrutinizing the group as intently as he watched what was left of her hometown. Frail as she seemed, her eyes were murderous and dark, fixed not on Cloud, but somewhere over his shoulder, behind him. She took one step, as if seeking to verify what she had seen, then marched up with a vigor Cloud had not expected from someone so stooped and careworn. He stepped forward to address her but she walked right past him till she had clearly gotten the attention of the one she had fixated on.

"Well, lookie here! I never thought I'd see your face around here again!" A few other people, mostly the young men of the town, turned towards the scene upon hearing her words. Recognition crossed features that almost immediately became clouded by anger. Cloud's hackles rose as they stormed over to his group but they stalked past him to where Barret stood, head bowed and shoulders sloped in shame.

"Hey! They kick you out of another town or something?" One of them sneered angrily. "I wouldn't be surprised. You destroy everything you touch!"

Another joined in, hate scribed across his face, "You got a lot a balls coming back here! Look at this place! It's all your fault North Corel turned into a garbage heap!" Without warning, the redhead took a swing at Barret and was rewarded with the solid smack of his fist in the larger man's stomach. Barret grunted, but made no move to retaliate. The rest of Avalanche was too stunned to react. Why was Barret taking so much abuse? It wasn't like him at all. The rest of the townsmen continued their taunting unabated.

"Why dontcha say somethin', asshole? Or did ya forget what you did here already?"

Barret's head ducked even lower and he sighed deeply. "I'm sorry." was all he could muster. The little crowd was disappointed by the lack of response.

"Shit! He ain't even worth the effort! Don't waste your time talking to the Techno - Freak!" Barret stood still till the crowd dispersed, most of them muttering curses at him as they went. His teammates stood around, completely unsure of themselves. He sighed heavily.

"You heard them. I'm responsible for what happened here." Without another word, he turned and walked away, heading up to the deserted outcropping. Cloud let him walk, unsure as ever if there was anything that could be said in such a situation. Aeris came up behind him and gently touched his wrist to get his attention.

"He'll come back when he's ready to talk. He won't leave us."

Cloud supposed she was right. She usually was, after all. The townspeople had not paid any attention to the rest of them so he supposed they could safely restock, find a place to rest and hopefully, find out which way the man in black had gone.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Evening brought the cool winds of a mountain town to what was left of North Corel, but the breeze could not banish the hopelessness that hung over the once prosperous mining town. Aeris stood outside the small, cracked building where they had found shelter for the night, exhausted after the treacherous journey. Not many people stayed in North Corel these days. Most travelers passing through were on their way to the Ropeway Station, heading for the great amusement park, Gold Saucer. Just salt in the wound of the entire town, that they lived even worse than many slum folk of Midgar right below the largest icon to frivolous wealth on the Planet. She remembered the advertisements that she had seen at home, how she had secretly promised herself that one day, she would go there. How a dashing young SOLDIER with hair like a black bramble had once promised to take her there...

It seemed so wasteful now, so cruel. How could the visitors turn their eyes away from such poverty? How could the townsfolk stand it, being so close to wealth they could not touch? They were such tough, determined folk, these former miners, hateful of mako and the Shinra treachery it brought, distrustful of strangers and almost bereft of hope, and yet with some grim perversion of the positive to keep them going. So strong, to keep living, hanging on any way they could to the place that was their own. Very much like Barret, shaped by the same event that had seeded his own drive to rid the world of mako reactors, hurt terribly by it, but not wounded nearly so close to the heart. Barret had been the main supporter of the reactor plans. It had cost him his family, his friends and even his hometown. He had suffered more than most, and yet did more about his pain than they had. He had grasped more hope than they. Aeris quietly wondered how Marlene was doing, how satisfied her mother was with an obedient little girl in place of her willful adopted daughter.

Voices filtered through the much-mended shutters of the inn, most likely only Cloud going over the maps and the plan again. Tomorrow, she would be going to the place she had wanted to see for years, because the one they followed, who somehow followed her had gone there, or so a young man had let out in between planning his new tattoo. She wondered briefly when she would see the silver-haired one again. She removed the wilted lily from behind her ear to touch the petals once more. Where did he find these things for her? Why did he find these things for her? How had he known she liked them so much. She brushed the flower against her face, imagining for a moment that its soft, smooth petals were large, elegant hands. But it lacked the callus from years of the sword and so the image faded. She bent to caress it with her mouth and could almost believe that she felt soft lips return the touch, but it was too cool.

How had he done this to her, infused her very soul with such a longing for his touch, for his voice, for all of him? She remembered the sight of him, nude and magnificent, displayed only for her eyes, the deep velvety voice that echoed with almost innocent gentleness through the fiber of her being. The burning in her blood had worsened since that night on the beach, tormenting her for denying her body's needs. Desire rushed like a river through her veins and her entire body throbbed with longing for him alone.

It frightened her, this newly waking passion. The first warm seed of it had gone almost unnoticed, masked by the cold fear she had felt at their first meeting. But it had grown since, taking root in her lifeblood and sending new shoots blazing forth at each encounter with his silver-green light. She wanted him terribly and she burned with the frustration of it. She could hardly bear to be with others, because they were not him. But alone, that was when the fiery tendrils tightened their grip, threatening to strangle her peace of mind if she would not satisfy the needs they had made her own. She craved the touch of strong callused hands, the warm embrace of those powerful arms, the weight of his body on hers.

With a mental wrench so fast it was almost painful, she drew her mind away from the temptations of memory, resolving to go inside, to rest and so submerge the longing. She could control it. She would control it. She would not let herself be dictated by her physical tension. She could not afford it. He was insane, a murderer, a cold-blooded killer, no matter how gentle he had been to her. She would remember that and reign her body in. She would uproot that treacherous desire and drown it. She would not think of silky hair glowing with reflected light, of hard muscle, of eyes that glowed with the Planet's own fire..

Too late. She was lost. She was consumed. She would burn with this vicious need until it was fully sated by his touch. If only he would come now to rid her of this tension. She waited out of sight, alone, until the sky darkened to a shade of deep blue and the wind drove needles of cold across her skin, but no one came. The townsfolk disappeared and the tents below glowed with mellow yellow light, but still, no one came. He would not come tonight. The wind had cooled her body, but not the need within. As she walked towards the inn she wondered if he suffered the distance even half as much as she did. She paused at the entrance for one last look into the darkness. Her hand trembled at the door.

_Oh, Planet, please let me find him._

* * *

**A/N:** Only two months since the last update. I hope I'll be able to keep this up. I'm still setting the scene for further action, but I promise you, things are going to heat up. ) Please note that I will not tolerate any plagiarism of my fics.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is made from this work. Original content and characters are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Eight**

Gold Saucer was a riot of color. The walls bore murals that would have been perfect for a nursery school, the shapes large, vivid and bold. Bright balloons bobbed their way up to the ceiling in a steady stream, seeming to almost move in time to the cheerful theme park music blaring out from hidden speakers. Even the welcoming committee was colorful.

"Welcome to Gold Saucer!" the giant 'chocobo' flapped his wings for effect. Cloud did not know what to make of him. Waddling around in a heavy costume did not strike him as a great way to make a living, but people did what they had to do and he was hardly one to judge. He ducked out of the way and headed straight to the main door. The blonde ticket seller seemed to be assessing him from a distance in a way he did not like. Did everybody really know what a dirt-poor bunch they were right off the bat? It was almost embarrassing.

The sound of a yelp and a wark and a scuffle made him look back. Tifa and Aeris were tugging on Yuffie's arm, trying to keep her from swiping at the mascot with her shuriken while Barret and Red wisely kept their distance.

"That'll teach you! 'Just being friendly', my ass!" the girl was shrieking. Cloud didn't even want to know. He caught the look in the ticket-seller's eyes and inwardly sighed. The commotion behind him was hardly helping matters. And the chirpy music was really starting to get to him.

"How much?" he asked and forced himself to listen to the spiel about prices, all the while silently cursing a certain insane former-General for being the vilest type of sadist as well.

"Man, this place looks expensive," Cloud mumbled as he stared at the map on the station wall. It was a flashy affair, lighting up to show the various dome-covered 'saucers' that gave the amusement park its name. He supposed the giant tree structure was sensible for something built in the middle of an ocean of sand, but why they had built it there in the first place, he had no idea.

Aeris tiptoed to peek over his shoulder, her eyes wide and childlike with delight despite the previous night's misgivings. Gold Saucer was the stuff of legend and she had waited so long. "Oh, let's have some fun!" She bounced on the tips of her toes as she tried to contain the burning energy within. Barret's angry grunt made her turn. She studied him for a short while, assessing him with her innate Ancient's intuition. He was still so full of guilt, would have been raking himself over the coals if he was not covering it with rage. She calmed down a bit. "I know this isn't the right time for this," she muttered quietly, but made a beeline for him anyway, schooling her face to her sweetest expression.

"Hey," she called to him, "Cheer up, Barret!" The large man pounded the wall behind him with his fist.

"I ain't in no cheery mood so just leave me alone!"

"You sure? That's too bad!" She forced herself to keep smiling through the reaction she was getting. Barret's anger was shifting from himself, to her, then to Cloud and finally dispersed to a general sense of everything, the way it usually was.

"You kids do whatever the hell you want! Don't forget we're supposed to be going after Sephiroth!" He stormed past the rest of them and hopped into a little doorway, one marked 'Wonder Square' before anyone could stop him. Aeris breathed in relief.

"I think he's mad," she said with a nearly mocking sweetness.

"Ya think?" Yuffie snapped with hardly any fire.

Aeris smiled and for a split second the wicked, wild glint of mischief shone through her eyes for any who knew to look for it. Tifa smiled with her though her eyes lacked the light of knowledge. She did not know half of what had transpired right in front of her.

"He'll probably be okay now."

Cloud ignored the turmoil behind him, frowning. He still had no idea where he should go. What kind of game was Sephiroth playing, running through a place like this? It hardly fit what Cloud remembered of the man. Did the dark SOLDIER suddenly feel the need to take a break from the killing to bet on chocobo races? Or play in a video arcade?

The man must have been looking for something. No other explanation would make much sense. There was hardly anyone worth assassinating in the park right now other than Avalanche, and if Sephiroth had wanted them dead Cloud knew he would have seen to it already. What puzzled him now was what the madman could possibly want, because he knew it would not be good, and where in this aggravatingly happy place it was to be found. The map was no help, but then he supposed there would hardly be a sign saying, "Mad SOLDIERS's Trinkets Sold Here!"

He sighed. There was nothing left to do but search and he hoped his group would not attract too much attention to themselves in the process. He turned around to see Red chewing a snarl out of his shoulder while his ears moved in time to the music and three female posteriors sticking out of the tunnel doorways.

"Do we just hop down and slide, or what?" Yuffie's voice echoed with a metallic ring.

"I suppose. I can't see the end though," Aeris said in the same tone. "It's pretty dark in here."

Cloud sighed again. Was there something in the air here, perhaps some subliminal line in the music, that just turned people into children?

Tifa piped up, "I think I can see a light in this one. Maybe if I just got a little further!" Cloud watched with a guilty fascination as she wriggled around in the attempt. He supposed it could be worse. At least the view was interesting.

"Come on," he called out and watched the girls' pop out of the tunnels like bright-eyed rabbits. "Let's try this one first."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Hmm, could have sworn Barret came through this one," the blond took in the scene around him. There were families and couples and more chocobo mascots parading around under the lights that boldly proclaimed that particular section of the park to be the 'Wonder Square'. What was really making him wonder was the contraption bouncing towards him. It appeared to be a moogle with some odd contraption on its head and Cloud wondered what genius had let the thing loose in there. Did anything make sense in this place?

Yuffie said his thoughts for him. "What the hell is that thing? And why is it coming this way?"

"Hey, you!" The thing on the moogle's head actually spoke as it approached, "Why so glum?" Cloud realized it was a cat, dressed in a cape and crown. "The name's Cait Sith! You can call me Cait but don't call me Caity!" Cloud only grew more confused at the way the moogle beneath the little metal cat gestured.

"Come on, buddy! I've got just the thing to cheer you up! I'm a genuine fortune telling toysaurus. How about it? Want me to read your fortune? A bright future! A happy future!"

Tifa smiled. "How 'bout it, Cloud? Sounds like fun!"

The toysaurus bounced. "One for the pretty lady!" It did a move between a jiggle and a dance, spit out a slip of paper and handed it to her. Aeris and Yuffie crowded around her in excitement.

"What's it say, Tifa?"

The former barmaid's brow furrowed in confusion. "Give into the good will of others and something big will happen by summer. What does that mean?"

Cait Sith bounced again, "Sorry, let me try again!" Cloud took the next one.

"Be careful of forgetfulness. Your lucky color is... blue?" he shook his head. "That's really no help to us here. What we need is someone who can tell us where Sephiroth is."

Cait Sit apparently was not going to be discouraged. "Hey, I can find missing things, missing people, anything, if you would quit poking me for a second, kid!" The last part was aimed at Yuffie, who was busy conducting an investigation of her own.

"I just want to know what that big zipper is for?" she yelped in defense as he swung his little megaphone at her.

He readied himself, shaking and bouncing like a terrier and produced one more slip of paper. Cloud looked it over and could not explain the dread he felt growing in him. "What's this supposed to mean?" he demanded, voice shaky and quiet.

Aeris tried to look over his shoulder, "What is it?" Cloud held the paper out for all to see.

_You will find what you seek, but you will lose something dear._

"Oh," Tifa's eyes widened. "That doesn't sound too good. But don't worry about it Cloud. These things are all just games."

Cait looked interested himself, "First time I've ever gotten something like that! Now I've just got to come along with you guys to see what happens!" He spun around and swung the megaphone in a downward arc. Yuffie shrieked again as it connected with her head. The little cat shook his fist, "Look, kid, leave the zipper alone, okay?"

The toysaurus bounced back, bumped into something behind it and wobbled precariously, with both the moogle's and the cat's arms flailing around before a helpful nudge at the back straightened him. Red walked around from behind, peering up at the cat with his one eye.

Cait bounced again, "What's this thing doing, eh?"

Red sat down to scratch his ear, "You smell funny. More metal than stuffing."

The little toy eyes widened in surprise. "You mean the big cat talks?"

"Why not?" Red asked. "The little one does." The toy emitted a rasp that served for laughter.

"Well, why not? Let's get moving!" He looked up to see the blond and the two long haired women heading through one of the exits. "Hey, guys, wait a minute!"

"Ah, forget it!" Yuffie picked herself off the floor. "We can find the old folks later. Let's hit the arcade!"

"Speed Square? Is it some kind of ride?" Tifa asked. Aeris hardly heard the question. She was too busy looking around and was the first to spot the muscle-bound man in the shamefully tiny briefs staring intently at them. For a moment she was afraid that he was looking directly at her. She glanced away as quickly as she could, not wanting that kind of attention, but he had already started walking towards them. Fortunately it was Cloud he addressed first.

"Hey, boy! You with the blond spikes!"

Cloud spun around. "Boy?"

The man grinned, "How's it going so far, boy? Having fun?" He seemed to notice the two pairs of female eyes, deep emerald and crimson, peering around the blond's shoulders. "Ah, you _are_ having fun. Well good, good for you, boy."

Cloud felt his patience growing thin. Bad enough he had a madman to stop, that most of his team was wandering around in various stages of idiocy and that the music was driving him nuts. Now this huge, severely underdressed man was calling him 'boy'.

"My name's Cloud!" He just barely kept himself from snapping. "Who do you think you are, calling me 'boy'!"

"Me?" The man did not seem insulted. "I'm the owner of Gold Saucer. The name's Dio and you can feel free to call me that." The blond did not say a word. Dio wondered if this was the right one. "Say, boy, do you know what a Black Materia is?" This only got a confused stare out of the blond and an indecipherable look from the green-eyed girl behind him.

"Why do you ask me?"

Dio stretched as he answered. "Well, a while back a boy about your age, maybe a little older, came in and asked me if I had a 'Black Materia' and I don't even know what that is. I thought that since you boys are the same age and both carrying big swords around you might know what it is, or at least know who he was."

This got the group's attention, the blond boy's especially. "Was he wearing a black coat?"

"Actually, he was!" They were getting somewhere now. "He had a tattoo of a number one on the back of his hand too. That the guy you had in mind, boy?"

Cloud did not even notice the title now. "Do you know where he went?" Dio laughed.

"Not a clue, boy, but drop by the Battle Arena sometime! You'll probably like it and all my collections from battles and travels are there too. I might not have a Black Materia, but I've got stuff that's probably even better." He laughed again and this time looked right past Cloud to address Aeris. "Might be something of special interest to you too, little lady." He winked and grinned as he walked away, leaving her more than a little nervous and slowly turning the color of her dress. Tifa frowned at his retreating form.

"Muscle-heads! Hm! They're the same wherever you go! Don't let it get to you, Aeris."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris left the pair alone at the chocobo races, hoping that they could resolve some small bit of what hung so thick and heavy between them or at least enjoy each other's company. She could see, anyone could, the quiet hope in Tifa's eyes whenever they turned to their blond leader, but what Cloud himself felt was a mystery even to her.

His eyes shifted like sands. The threads of emotion rolling off him twined and tangled till she could not tell which was the true line. It was all so twisted. Sometimes Aeris swore he could match Tifa for shy, distant longing. More often, though, there was something frightfully familiar, something she had not seen in anyone for a long time, a drive and a passion, single-mindedness and wicked playfulness that for some reason did not quite fit with a head of bright yellow.

Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking on her part, the long-stifled yearning to have what she had once known return to her, that made shadows gain substance. She sighed as she stepped around laughing children, slowly making her way towards the doors. It was not in her power to unravel the coils of spirit. She could only see the snarl and point the way.

The last thread deep within the coil that was Cloud disturbed her most of all, that intense, fiery, familiar stare that seemed to stare right through her. It showed itself only rarely, when the blond was shrouded in eerie silence, when glowing blue swirled and seemed to hold something of the green sea instead of the sky above it.

He had turned that look on her just a short while ago, when her eyes had been trained on the coursing birds. She had felt it on her like a slowly rising wave of warmth, had met it full on with her own gaze for a heartbeat. "The Battle Arena," he said, before that fire was replaced by shadowy emptiness. She would not permit herself to ponder where such a gaze had come from, or why it came and went as it did. Some things were too frightening for thought.

She stepped out of the tunnel, blinking under the bright lights of the Battle Arena. The staircase to the fighting ring towered so high above her that she had to draw breath for the wonder of it. The warmth in her blood, stirred slowly awake by a distant stare and a quiet suggestion drew her gently onwards. There was something of special interest to her there.

She politely declined several invitations to watch a match as she made her way upwards, citing interest in the exhibits and too little time for even that. She paused at the entrance, both the get her bearings and catch her breath. The floor was full of young fighters stretching and throwing practice kicks. It took a while for her to spot the exhibition hall and make her way in.

There was nothing of immediate interest. Only a few archaic weapons, old hunting masks, some ancient tome on the art of war lay well-cushioned within display cases lined up neatly behind velvet rope. There were smaller items, newer ones, Dio's tribute to himself, the little trophies he had won as a fighter. Aeris had to shake her head at the evidence of his ego. There was nothing in there that she could find particularly interesting and she found herself wondering what trick of fate had led her to this place, if what had convinced her to come here had been all in her head. Perhaps it was best to leave before Dio should show up.

She completed a brisk circuit of the room and turned to leave. A light flutter made her turn to see a piece of paper, crisp and white and neatly folded, fluttering to the floor, blown off its resting place by the gust of her spinning. It slid right to her feet when it hit the floor just the right way up for her to see the large letter 'A' written on it. Was this what she was meant to see? She glanced around to be sure the room was still empty before reaching out. She unfolded the page. The script inside was neat, bold and somewhat stark, a very masculine hand. It was _his_ note for her, it had to be.

_Angel,_

_I long for you._

_I wait for you._

_S._

She pressed the paper to her heart, smiling as a flush colored her face. What a silly, boyish thing for him to do, to go through all that trouble to get such brief words to her. It was almost ridiculous and still so flattering. She giggled, almost beside herself with giddiness. She read the note again, soaking in the quiet reassurance that she did not stand alone with this irrational burning in her soul, that he would see her again and not leave her alone. Last night's solitude had almost been too much, but she could bear such loneliness again if she had this small promise to hold close to her fluttering heart.

A loud racket from the Arena broke her out of her musing. Was that gunfire? It sounded much closer than the other sounds from the Arena had. It was so close it almost hurt to hear it. When screams joined the noise it turned her heart's fluttering to a pounding. Something was very, very wrong. She took one step forward in curiosity just as the glass display case next to her shattered. She stifled a terrified shriek as she crouched to the floor, the shards raining all around her. It did not take much to know that something was terribly wrong. Someone was out there wielding rage and a gun.

If her friends were here, they could do something, but she was one person, hiding behind a display case with her hands over her ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound of the shots and the screams. She could no more silence that she could the agony of the guards and fighters as their souls were forced from their bodies. Those screams that human ears would never hear tore brutally through her.

Instinctively, her mind wrapped around itself for protection, blocking out fear and death as it tuned its focus to the immediate problem. Slowly, without Aeris' even knowing it, her thoughts reached out as one small tendril from within the barricaded psyche, carrying the words she was not even aware she was frantically whispering. _Stop it, please, stop it. You don't have to do this. _The thread reached a mass of burning rage. She felt it and flinched.

Then all was still. The shots stopped as quickly as they had begun and there were no more sounds other than her pained, terrified gasping that turned into deep sobs. She stooped in the pool of shards, the note crumpled, torn and forgotten in her hand. It was over now and there was nothing she could do but pull herself together with the knowledge that those spirits so tormented in their last moments were in a better place now.

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They stopped abruptly at the entrance to the lobby. "What... what happened here?" The voice was familiar. She sprang from her position and flew out of the exhibit hall, ignoring the bodies she knew were lying there, people she had seen alive just a few minutes ago.

"Cloud! Cloud!" She caught on to his arm, reassuring herself that he was solid and unhurt. He shook her off and ran ahead to inspect the bodies, leaving her with the others behind him. Barret was missing. "Cloud, where are you going?"

Yuffie stared at her with wide eyes. "Did you see it happen?"

Aeris shook her head. "No. I only heard it. I didn't see anything."

"Did Sephiroth do this?" Cloud threw the question out to no one in particular. He toed the body of a young man, seeking out the wound beneath the dark red stain. It was not the long slash he had expected. "No," he whispered, "It's not him... they're all shot. Sephiroth would never use a gun." A slight movement in the corner of the room caught his eye. Someone was still alive. Cloud rushed over. "What happened?" he barked, "Tell me what happened here! Who was it?"

"A man... he had a gun... on his arm," the young man wheezed.

Aeris stepped forward, in alarm. "It couldn't be..." The loud tramp of boots up the stairs made them all turn. Dio stood at the entrance, flanked by two guards.

"Did you all do this?" he roared. Cloud hesitated in his answer, shocked at the question.

"N... no, it wasn't us."

Cait Sith saw the look in Dio's eyes and backed up towards the fighting ring. "Better move, guys," he whispered, "Things are going to get ugly." He bounded awkwardly up to the door with the rest of Avalanche close behind him. Dio's orders to the guards echoed around them as they flooded into the arena.

It was a dead end. They were soon surrounded. Dio stepped in, angry and menacing. "That's as far as you go!"

Cloud stepped out in front of him. "Listen to me! We didn't..." Dio cut him off.

"There's only one way we deal with criminals around here! You're going down below!"

The guards closed in. Aeris tried to break free but it was useless. They grabbed her arms, hoisted her straight off the floor and carried her over to a gaping hole that she had not noticed before. She struggled harder, heard Yuffie cursing behind her, screaming that it was all a mistake. The guards held her over the hole, awaiting further orders. "No, don't!" she cried, but the guards paid no mind. At a sign from Dio that she did not see, they released her. She fell hard and fast into the darkness. She would remember the terror of that first lurch, but she would not remember landing.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

She stood quietly by some hours later, inside the run-down living room that had once been part of a house in the original Corel. When Barret had said his home town had been buried, she had not thought it had been like this. Her mind still hurt from the story he had told and her head still hurt from the blow it had taken. She was only glad to be in a shelter, surrounded by friends.

This desert prison was a dangerous place. It had taken mere minutes for that to become apparent. If the inmates did not kill them, the heat would. There was only one way out, that strange man had said, and for that they needed the Boss' permission. Exactly who the Boss was, she had no idea, but the others were intent on helping Barret resolve his problem first. She had been so glad to learn that the slaughter in the Battle Arena had not been his doing.

"Look, it's something I have to do by myself," he was saying. "I don't want none of you getting hurt because of this. It's between me and Dyne. I got to apologize to him before I can rest in peace." Aeris could feel the waves of guilt resurfacing from him and deep inside, she understood.

Cloud disagreed, "Do whatever you want to do. Is that what you want to hear from me? Well that's no good. I can't let you go alone. If you die on me I'm going to have nightmares."

Aeris spoke up softly from her corner, "This can't be the end, Barret. Weren't you going to save the Planet?" Barret did not look outwardly happy at the support he was getting, but he was warming up to the idea inside.

"We're not going to let you go alone, Barret," Tifa said.

Aeris watched quietly as the rest of the group pledged their support, assuring the gunman that they were all in it together. She leaned against the arm of the couch as she tried to soothe her mind. Too much had flown through her today. The waves of emotion had gone from one extreme to another too rapidly and the bump on her head was not helping matters. She had a headache and it was rapidly growing worse. She needed some time alone to center her own thoughts, to filter out the strands that were not hers, but she did not dare take a walk alone in this place. It was too hot, too dangerous, but she needed the silence. The pain was not letting up. There were dark spots before her eyes.

"Hey!" Someone cried out. Aeris felt a strong grip on her arm but it was not enough to keep her from swaying. For a moment she saw nothing, felt nothing, knew nothing but the need to draw a deep breath. Slowly, the darkness faded and she found herself lying on the couch with everyone looking down at her. Red nuzzled her face as he tried to wake her.

"I'm okay," she assured them. "I just got dizzy for a moment there." Her statement drew frowns from all around.

"Are you sure?" Tifa felt her forehead and Aeris had to smile at the gesture. "It's not the heat?" Aeris shook her head.

"Maybe you hit your head harder than you thought," Yuffie remarked wryly. Cloud stepped out of sight.

"Give her some breathing room, people." Aeris murmured her thanks. Even well-intentioned concern was proving too much for her. All she wanted was quiet rest, sleep if she could have it, but mostly just some time away from the crowd.

She pressed one hand across her eyes. "Sorry." The voices continued, not directed at her, but they seemed to be discussing something important. She could hardly put in the effort to make sense of the words. A wet nose against her chin roused her. She opened one eye lazily to find Red watching her.

"They went with Barret," he told her, his voice almost a deep purr. "Cait Sith and I stayed to watch you." Aeris smiled gratefully and petted his nose, laughing inside at the way he tried to dodge it before sliding back into the easy comfort of a quiet room. She sunk deep within herself and reached for the thread that tied her to the Planet, felt it reach back to her and cradle her in a small pocket of its being. She let its slow humming wash over her like a lullaby till she was only vaguely aware of her surroundings.

The couch she lay on faded from her mind. Every emotion that was not hers was left behind the deeper she went, until she floated in a place that was hers alone. She would stay here as long as she could to let her defenses rebuild themselves. And it would be good to simply rest and perhaps dream in this peaceful plane. Time was meaningless here. She lost track of it.

She had no idea how long she had drifted within her own mind when she first felt the intruder, the unmistakable presence of another at the gates of her being. Inside, she jumped awake, fully prepared to assess that presence. There were very few others who could reach out with their own minds the way she could, and none who should have been able to brush so closely against hers. The long peace she had experienced prevented serious alarm. Instead, what she felt bordered on a wary curiosity.

The dark presence did not push any further, nor did it move away. It stayed there, almost as if waiting for acknowledgment, just outside of what she had thought to be her own hidden space. None could ever enter here. None should have ever been able to find it and know it for what it truly was and yet this strange one did. She carefully reached towards it, seeking some reason for this impossibility. What she found flooded her with joy.

_"Are you all right?"_ he asked. "_Does it hurt badly?" _The words were a soundless impression through the barrier that separated her mind from his, but she needed no voice to see his concern and bask in it.

_"I am fine. I was only tired."_ She pressed herself as close to him as she could, longing for an embrace, but in a place where they had no bodies, such things were impossible. It was not important. He had found her and that was enough. What did it matter if the walls of their minds stood between them? She could feel his warmth as surely as she had felt his arms around her despite the barrier.

_"I've missed you,"_ she confessed and felt the same sentiment emanating from him, the flow of it softened somewhat by the wall that stood between them. Even in this place of rest, the burning he caused in her took hold, all the more powerful for having him so close and still out of reach. If she could have torn down those walls, both his and hers, and mingled their thoughts, their souls, she would have done it in an instant. She strained at the very borders of her being, trying to feel more of him brushing against her no matter how lightly it did so. The walls were cruelly thick.

_"I will see you soon,"_ the silent promise came and she felt his frustration, only a mere glimmer of it but enough to convince her that it matched her own. Deep in his mind where he could not lie, he felt the strange ties between them as strongly as she did and like her, he did not know why. The quiet revelation soothed her. She would see him soon. He would wait for her. She settled against the edge of her mind's own space, trying to be as close to him as she could and returned to her state of rest, cushioned by the presence of the dark one.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Red rolled onto his back and wriggled on the rough floor boards in an attempt to reach an itch on his back. He did not often get an opportunity to do these uniquely animal things when the group was on the move. The house was almost empty. The little robot was dormant at the door and Aeris was asleep so he indulged, never removing his eye from her for a second. He had been given a duty to watch her and he was determined not to fail in it. He rolled back onto his stomach and lay very still. Aeris murmured something and seemed about to wake, but she soon quieted and her breathing remained steady and slow.

Red's ears twitched. Something was making his fur rise. He sprang up, ready to pounce, but there was nothing there. He sniffed the air and detected no odd scent. Still, he could not shake the feeling that there was something there that did not belong.

Aeris murmured again, her words too soft even for his ears. She reached up with one arm as if to caress something in her sleep. Red watched, curious and slightly alarmed. The girl did not wake, but only turned in her sleep to pillow her head on her hands. The strange prickle along Red's spine refused to leave. He froze in position, ready for action. If there was a threat he would not meet it lying down. Aeris slept on unperturbed.

Red watched. He waited. The square of light from the little window slid slowly across the floor, growing dimmer all the while. There was a sharp rap at the door and Cloud's voice came through the wood. "It's us! We're coming in." The presence slid away and Red immediately felt his fur flatten. The strange thing was gone.

Yuffie burst in through the door. "We're getting out of here! And guess what? We got a buggy? Now we don't have to walk!" She ran over to the couch. "Hey, Aeris! Wake up!"

The flower girl's eyes opened slowly. Yuffie bounced in excitement, "Gawd, girl, you sure sleep long! Did you hear? Cloud won us out of here and we got a buggy!"

Red studied the rest of Avalanche as they filed in, all in various stages of weariness and relief. If there had been danger here as he had feared, it was gone now. There was no point in needlessly worrying them.

Amidst the excited chatter, Aeris pressed her hand to her chest, where a small, crumpled scrap of paper lay hidden, and smiled.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The swordsman sat under a tree, slowly returning to himself and considering how typically reckless it was of the blond puppet to find himself in such a situation. There were no straight roads for that one, it seemed. And the boy had managed to get the green-eyed one hurt as well, though not seriously. That alone had kept the silver-haired one from retracing his steps to skewer the boy where he stood.

He leaned his head back and felt it thud against the rough bark as he sighed, resigned. He had actually found her, felt her with his mind, though she lacked the signs in her body that drew him to the blond and the others like him. Her essence shone out like a beacon in the dark, so different from his own. He had brushed his mind against her own, but he could not enter. She was not like his pawns. They could only draw what power he let them, only be his tools to use. She was a power in her own right and he could not get past the barriers that had separated them.

If only he could have reached out and actually touched her. Everything she was, the bare core of her being had been there, flickering like a torch with her every thought. It drew him in with its heat, setting his desire for her body, her soul, for all of her blazing like the desert sun, only to leave him tormented at a gate neither of them could cross. He almost cursed the darkness in him, the thing that set him apart from humans, made him better. There was no room for shadows in that airy space of hers, no opening for him.

Drifting close by was the best he could have and even that had been dangerous. Animals, even sentient ones it seemed, were acutely aware of the unseen. There was nothing he could do but stay very still, make no sudden shifts of the mind. He never would have hurt her. The cloud of his mind was dark, but there had never been any threat. He had longed to wrap his consciousness around his lady's as much as he could, but caution demanded that with an audience, even one with no true _sight, _he maintain as unthreatening an appearance as possible.

He hung his head forward in despair as the moon rose high above the trees and slivers of light filtered through the leaves to light him up, a figure of black and white on the deep green. He sighed. He needed her so much, longed to wrap his arms around her and see the laughter in emerald eyes as he had that one precious night on distant sands. He wanted to feel her beneath him again, to know those soft curves more intimately. He feared he was forgetting the scent of her skin, longed to bury his face in her chest and so burn the fragrance into his memory.

She would be coming soon and he would wait for her here. Her own innocent desire would bring her to him. The half-dreamed meeting had drawn the threads between them. When she came he would fasten it tight and soon, he promised himself, soon, he would pull the strings.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII and its characters are the property of Squaresoft.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Nine**

_"This game you play... it takes too long."_ Mother's voice rasped within his mind with the breathy echo of a glacial cave. _"Time is lost while you try to convince that girl to let you between her legs."_ Sephiroth only smiled, eyes heavy-lidded at the picture the words painted for him. Mother was not pleased. Her presence hardened in his mind to icicle sharpness, forbidding and cold inside him with the threat of pain.

And he did not care. The sun was warm and the breeze was cool. He leaned sideways against the trunk of the tree he had chosen to sit in, reveling in the feel of warmth on his face. He let his eyes slip closed, felt the ripples of warm light and cool shadow move across his skin and imagined that slender fingers would flutter over him the same way. His mind wandered, providing images that washed over him in waves of heat and dulled the sharpness of the cold threat inside him. It reduced the harsh voice to hoarse, almost distant howling, audible, yet so easy to brush aside.

_"She is beneath you," _Mother raged. _"Dirty, filthy, conniving little thing, drawing you to her like this!"_

"No, Mother." The smile never left Sephiroth's lips. "She is the one tied to me." His eyes flew open, glowing with a half-mad triumph even in the face of the morning sun. "You should have seen it! She longs for me, even in the darkness that goes beyond dreaming! Every moment that we are apart, she grows more desperate for my presence!" He rose with easy grace to stand on the broad branch, reaching up with one hand to grip the one above. He rested his forehead against that hand and stood there, precariously balanced in the leafy canopy, perfectly hidden in the green.

"She will come to me. She will seek me out and she will not stop until she finds me." The words escaped him in a rolling whisper, barely even reaching the angry one inside him. "She longs to feel my touch. She pines for the sound of my voice. I felt it in her, this yearning. She has come to crave me. I know she desires what I would give her, even if she cannot quite name it as desire herself." He felt the flare of his mother's anger but it was dulled. Pain could not reach him while his mind lingered on the innocent one and the cold words Mother threw at him faded in the rosy glow of recent memory.

True, as Mother said, even assumed dead he could still have any woman he wanted, find an agreeable one for a night, or take one by force to satisfy his growing lust. But what good was that when there was only one woman he wanted, when he could bring her willingly to his side? He did not quite know why he was drawn to the slender, innocent one, other than her unearthly beauty, but he was quite sure that she had not wrapped some veil of her own about him, as Mother so often said. Those wide green eyes plainly showed how unaware she was of the darker games lovers played.

There were other little things about her, the startled look in her eyes, the way the rhythm of her breathing changed with her mood, the gentle laugh, the easy smile, the curve of her lips, her hips... He sighed with longing and turned his head, pressing the side of his face against the rough bark. Somewhere in that direction, the puppet lingered, but he would come, even if he did take his own sweet time. So long as he brought Aeris safely with him, Sephiroth did not care how long it took.

He ached to hold her willowy body through the night, to thread his hands through her hair. He would have given anything at that very moment to feel her skin against his own, to know the scent of her, and her taste. He wanted to know how much it would take to bruise her throat with his teeth and if she would try to stop him when he began to undress her. He needed to hear the sounds that would escape those cherry lips when he claimed her completely as his own. Would they be gasps or screams?

He leaned back against the tree trunk in a rush of sudden frustration, almost unable to bear the pain of endless waiting. He wanted Aeris, needed her badly, in fact. So badly that he had to force himself to remember that he needed much more than her body. She was the vessel of a power she barely realized, and her blithe ignorance of that fact suited him perfectly. If he could have her closer, keep her nearer all the time and willingly attached to him, that awesome strength would be his to use for his cause and Mother's. He had to draw his green-eyed girl closer and still never let her know that he intended only to use her.

The proof of his success would be if she came to him of her own accord. The puppet would escort her across the field and into the village hidden deep within the green. He would be so close to satisfaction, to triumph, if she came to him on her own then. And if she would not do so just yet, it hardly mattered. He would play his game to its end and draw her out himself. One way or another, she would be his.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Dreams, even a Cetra's, were never meant to make much sense. That was why Aeris, half aware of the haze of sleep, was not particularly alarmed when the red-headed musician she had been waiting to see swaggered onto the stage bare-chested and grinning. She was not surprised when he looked straight up at the balcony where she sat and flipped a sharp mock salute. She did not even bat an eye when he ran a hand slowly down his body, teasing and tempting all who saw him. The tired groan at her side, however, she had not expected.

Her silvery-haired warrior sat beside her with his head in hands, his hair like a shimmering waterfall even in the darkened concert hall. "Not again, Planet, why?" he groaned. "Where did I go wrong?" He slumped sideways against her shoulder, seeking her comfort in frustration. She reached over to stroke his cheek, to soothe him through her own smothered amusement, but awareness had seeped in too deeply by then.

She woke.

The backseat of the buggy provided a remarkably smooth ride. Long days of hiking and a few close calls had shown her that grassy plains were not as level as they looked. She leaned away from the door and began working out the kinks in her neck. The ride may have been smooth enough for sleep but the seating certainly was not. Red XIII playfully bumped his head into her shoulder and she smiled lazily back at him.

"You have a good sleep?" he asked, nudging her again. She reached over to scratch his neck.

"Good sleep," she murmured. "Strange dreams, but a good sleep." She smiled a little as the scenes in her dreams, still vivid, replayed in her mind. He was in her dreams now, as handsome as he was in life, but different, warmer somehow. She had seen him unwell. She had seen him a bit playful and had even seen him worried for her, but each encounter, each soft caress still bore the thrill of newness and danger. She looked longingly to the side where the dream form of the dark warrior had rested his cheek. The shape of his dream self had thrown his head against her shoulder with the ease of a long familiarity. Even in sleep it had been comforting, to know for a few unreal moments what life without even one thread of loneliness was. With things as they were, she would likely never have that long standing comfort with him. She wondered if she would ever have it with anyone.

She sighed.

She shared something with that dark one, something wonderful and strange. But, and she was alarmed at how often she had to remind herself of it lately, he was insane, destructive and murderous. Cloud reminded them all of it when he had too and the tightness that grew in Tifa's eyes at his words confirmed it. Up close, though, the dark soldier had never seemed that way to her. Dangerous, certainly, but mysterious and inexplicably captivating. She wanted him and she knew after that hazy encounter in the deeper realm of minds, that he wanted her too. There could be no lies there.

She slumped back against the side of the buggy. She wanted him, but for what she did not know. The deep burning inside, low in her body, was telling enough, but was that all? Did he just want that one thing himself? His fiery kisses, that bold touch, the heated look she had caught in his eyes, all spoke of desire and deep-seated need, yet he had not claimed what could have easily been his. He had always been gentle, attentive to her slightest response. Memories of his concern swept over her and she longed to wrap herself in the protection he offered for as long as she could. How long would he keep offering his warm arms to her?

Red nudged her shoulder again. "You're frowning. I thought you said you had a good sleep." Her head jerked up in surprise. She took a deep breath before answering, with a tiny smile on her face.

"I did, I did," she reassured the big red cat, but she could still see the disbelief in his one yellow eye. He tilted his head in a gesture that could have been human if not for the way his ears tilted forward. Aeris' smile widened before she could help it. "It was a good rest. Only the dream was a bit . . . strange." Her head hung down as a breath escaped her.

Red stepped forward and rested his chin on her leg with his face tilted up so he could see her face. "It wasn't scary, was it?" he asked, and Aeris shook her head, her expression almost wistful.

"No, no." She sighed again. "If anything it was too good." The quizzical look on Red's furry face made the smile return to her face. "You know how some dreams can be so wonderful . . ." She trailed off. This was ridiculous.

"That it is sad knowing that real life will never match it?" Red finished for her. The image of a den, warm and filled with the sound of mewling flashed through his mind. Aeris looked down at him and nodded slowly before she slumped further to the side with a cheek resting on one palm, deep in thought. Her other hand came to rest on Red's neck and she absently petted the longer strands of his mane. He said no more, letting her think in whatever silence she could muster amidst the sounds of Barret and Cloud arguing about map-reading.

This dream, at least, had not brought any strange presence with it.

The outline that had been growing on the horizon proved to be a small forest, but a very dense one. Barret swore. "We must be going off course, Spike! We're looking for a reactor town and the only thing I see out there is more bush!" Cloud kept driving straight towards the trees.

"I think we've followed the map exactly, Barret," Tifa spoke up from the center of the middle row, where she sat to keep Yuffie from being bludgeoned to death in any attempt to dismantle the toysaurus on the other end. The barmaid had the map open out on her lap and with Cait Sith's help, had been watching for the faint marks of the old trail, long overgrown.

"Absolutely!" Cait Sith chirped. "My internal compass says we're going the right way, straight to Gongaga."

"That so?" Barret turned around, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the little robot. "I hope that compass of yours is nothing like your fortunes." Yuffie snickered, but kept her head tilted against the window and made no other sound. It took no great leap of thought to see that the girl was bored out of her mind, what with her slumped posture and the expression of bland disinterest on her face.

Tifa smiled, shaking her head as she turned back to the map. The young ninja's leg kept twitching. Tifa could only imagine what kind of torture it was for the fidgety girl to have to sit still so long but they could hardly have her prodding their newest member every few minutes. The dense ring of forest grew nearer.

Barret huffed. "That's supposed to be Gongaga? Where's the reactor?" Cloud kept driving in silence, guided by something far beyond a map and an old trail.

Tifa squinted and slid forward in her seat. "Looks like there's something sticking up out of the trees." She tilted her head as she tried to figure out what it was. "It doesn't look like a reactor though." Quiet took over as she and Barret leaned forward, straining to identify the strange shapes protruding from the green. Then Barret slid back and a harsh breath escaped him.

"It's not a reactor," he murmured. "It's what's left of one."

Cloud just kept driving.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The evening sun found the blond man at the edge of the small ruined settlement, far more awake than he had been in the morning, the afternoon's alarms a terribly rude awakening. He could still feel the wound on his arm itching even though no visible trace of it remained after Aeris' ministrations. The ache inside was even worse, as the sudden realization that one of the small band could be a spy threatened to wound him even further. He stopped on the path, turning back to make certain every last one of his tired teammates caught up. Exhaustion showed in their every step. Could one of them really have relayed information to the Turks? It was almost too much to think about.

The first shot, the one that had drawn his mako-infused blood, had come from Reno. It had been hard and fast, the redhead's revenge. Cloud raised one hand, intending to motion his friends forward, but froze in his motion when he noticed the fine trembling. He let his arm fall to his side. The shock of blood pouring down his side had pulled him out of the strange, half-waking state he found himself drifting in more often of late. He still could not believe that it had taken that much for him to finally open his eyes. He nibbled at the inside of his lip, using the small pain to ground his awareness in reality. This slipping in and out was dangerous, not just for him but for the entire team.

His gaze focused on Tifa as she dragged her feet on the path. He had never seen her look so tired, with her hair all astray and no trace of her usual encouraging smile. Dark dirt streaked her legs and clothes, the result of a fall she had taken after being hit during battle, but she was unharmed and for that Cloud was grateful. He could almost feel his own energy draining out of him as he looked at her wrap her arms around herself. She began to rub warmth back into her arms and Cloud felt a slight twinge of something, a mild longing mixed with guilt. He wished he had a coat to lend her.

When she raised her eyes, he turned away hurriedly, burying his face in his hand as if contemplating the next move. Hopefully she had not noticed him staring and would not see the redness he could feel creeping up his face.

"What now, Spike?" Barret spoke with no trace of his usual gruff demeanor. All that was left now was weariness. Cloud looked back again to be sure the rest of his team were together. Tifa gave him a small smile and a short sigh of relief as she drew to a halt beside him. Yuffie remained just behind the her, looking sullen and obviously sulky. She was not even trying to reach the big zipper on the little robot next to her. Cloud narrowed his eyes at the toysaurus. Cait Sith was being unusually quiet. Something was not quite right here.

The blond man shook his head violently. He had felt himself drifting off again. He spun around, looking for Aeris, but she was not on the path. Almost before the thought registered, a chill ran through his body and his heart thumped in his chest, though his mind remained clear. Before he could question the severity of the reaction a pink figure emerged from the brush off the side of the path. Cloud felt his body return to normal immediately.

"So many people died here," Aeris murmured as she approached, her voice bearing a slight note of helpless regret. Mercifully she did not seem haunted. Her face did seem a bit pale in the green-tinted shadows but perhaps it was only because the deep blue blossom she was burying her face in enhanced her natural pallor. How did she keep finding these things? Cloud knew he had never seen anything like it.

It hardly mattered. "Come on," he waved the group forward. They needed supplies, perhaps better weapons or armor if there were any to be had in what was left of Gongaga. There was little light left. It would not hurt to find a place to sleep for the night. Cloud hurried onwards, intending to make the best use of what daylight remained, but a sad, womanly sigh reached him, made him stop.

He turned around, just a bit annoyed, ready to snap at the one responsible for wasting time, but Aeris' expression hushed him. He had not noticed the graveyard, crowded with pale, roughly-hewn tombstones. Care was evidenced throughout the small cemetery. Not one of the markers was overgrown with the wild greenery that shot forth wherever dark earth met sunshine here. A woman, garbed in black, knelt before one near the center. Cloud stared wordlessly as she traced the letters on the stone. Her lips moved but she made no sound, her words meant only for the departed one.

The others stood quietly by, stunned to silence, as Aeris entered the graveyard through the narrow gap in the fence and approached the mourning woman with a gentle gait. The woman heard her, turned to face her, ready to warn her off, but Aeris' look of genuine sympathy froze the angry words in her throat. She turned back to the headstone and tenderly patted the name there. When she did speak, her voice was low, sad and raspy, as if pain and tears had taken their toll. "The reactor exploded three years ago," she said. "My husband is here now." Grief lived still in that ragged voice.

Aeris said nothing. She only knelt down and gently placed her night blue wildflower on the grave. The widow smiled. "I thank you." She reached out to touch the flower girl's arm. "I wish you better luck with your love than . . .this." She returned to tracing the dead one's name, her eyes shiny with new tears. Aeris stood quietly and left the woman to her grieving while nursing a new ache in her own heart and, for some reason the girl did not know, the ghost of an old one too.

The rebel group moved on, perhaps a little slower than before, more silent, weary and disheartened. The tragedy of this accident, one like so many others, was made a little more real here. Everywhere, the stories were the same. A reactor built among controversy. An explosion so great that even years later the wreckage was still lying around. A home lost, a father gone. A brother. A mother. A sister. A son.

The loss was all the more heartbreaking in the face of the sheer bravery of Gongaga. Its people had pulled together, gathered what was left of their lives. They carried on, almost completely forgotten by the company that had brought this sorrow upon them. It suited them perfectly. "People can live without Shinra's mako reactors," so many on them had said, and there was a cold, knowing glint of harsh experience in everyone's eyes.

One shopkeeper in particular had noticed the distinctive mark of a SOLDIER, but the company Cloud kept had convinced the man that the blond meant no harm. "Ex-SOLDIER, eh?" The man had looked thoughtful. "You should visit that house on the south side of town. Folks who live there would probably like to talk to you."

Cloud had no idea what the man meant by that, but still, he went.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Sam, get the door, will you? My hands are in soapsuds here." Marie shook her head and smiled as she washed the dishes, big, heavy plates made right there in town. She could hear Sam's exaggerated groan as he pulled himself upright. She swore that the man grew lazier by the day. She listened for the creak of the opening door and waited for the visitor to speak. Instead there was an unusual gap of silence after the entering footsteps. She frowned. Usually either Sam or the visiting neighbor would have spoken by now. Immediately, she was struck with the fear that something was very wrong. She turned from the sink, hurriedly drying her hands on a thin dishcloth as she scurried out of the kitchen.

Sam finally did speak when she was almost into the living room. "Hey, you're not from around here!" Marie looked up to see a handsome young man standing a bit stiffly just inside the doorway. Both she and Sam noticed the unnatural light at the same time, like a bright glow in deep water in the blond man's eyes. Sam was astonished. "You're a SOLDIER!"

A SOLDIER. Of course. Marie felt her heart leap. "You really are a SOLDIER, aren't you? Tell, me, do you know anything about our son?" The old man next to her nodded.

Words left Sam's mouth in a rush. "It's been about ten years since he up and left to join SOLDIER. He said he didn't want to live in the country anymore."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to have you standing like that. Please, come in. Have a seat!" Courtesy had caught up with Marie, but it paled next to the excitement the young man's presence had brought. She stared at the young man as he nodded and took the seat she offered. Make him a bit taller, turn his hair dark . . . Was that what her boy looked like in his uniform? The young women behind him called out there polite greetings as they came in behind him. Marie turned a critical eye on them.

Both were quite pretty, Marie thought, and though she did not think much of the well-endowed one's clothes, the girl at least had a bladed fighter's glove to ward off the unwanted attention such an outfit would bring. The woman narrowed her eyes at the other girl. Petite and pretty and the expression on her face might have almost been sweet if not for her eyes. They stood out from the rest of her, bearing the look of one startled, rubbed raw, one who had seen more than one so young should have. Brown hair and very green eyes... the combination rang a bell.

"Didn't you know someone named 'Zack' in SOLDIER?" Sam was saying. "Darn boy ran off, like I said, though that was long before that business with the reactor. He wrote and told us he made it in, but he never came back." The grey-haired man leaned back in his seat, looking weary. "He used to write a lot but it's been about five years since we last heard anything from him."

The blond man shook his head. "I'm sorry." His voice was quiet, with a reserved quality that Marie knew her son had never had. "The weapons dealer told me you would be interested in speaking to me, but I didn't know it was anything like this." What had he been expecting, exactly? "I never heard of anyone named 'Zack' in SOLDIER. I'm sorry you haven't heard from him for so long."

Marie frowned. Zack had to have been in SOLDIER. He would not have lied to his own parents. She knew she had raised him better than that. She heard a small, stifled cry from the corner. "Zack..." the girl in pink had her face down, her lips covered with her fingers. Zack's mother stared, her eyes widening. The memory of words, a broad, bold scrawl, clicked instantly with the image before her.

"You know him, young lady?" she leaned forward, eager for information, eager to know this girl. "He wrote us six or seven years ago saying he had a girlfriend." Marie saw the green eyes flicker at that, shining with more than just the lamp light. She swallowed before she phrased the next question but she had to know. "Was that you?"

The girl's face crumpled, the tears that threatened to spill confirmation enough for the older woman. But whatever memories that line of questioning had dredged up seemed to be too much for the girl. With all eyes on her, she buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. "It can't... I'm sorry!" Before anyone could move to offer comfort she bolted from her seat and fled the house.

Evening had set the sky fully ablaze when Cloud finally stepped back out onto the path. The vibrant green grasses seemed to have caught fire too. Everything was touched with a deep shade of glowing gold, though it was fading fast. Cloud exhaled heavily. It had taken only a few more minutes of questioning from Zack's parents, whoever he was, before they became convinced that he truly knew nothing about their son, but it had been enough time for darkness to begin its slow crawl across the land. Even as he stood wondering where Aeris had run off too he saw the shadows lengthen and the brightness of the land around him cool to shades closer to despair, just as Zack's parents had.

He regretted that he could give them no information, pitied them even further for having completely lost contact with their only child. It was a shame that the one person who actually might have been able to tell them something had run out so soon, and that halfway through his own interrogation, Tifa had slipped out the door as well. Well, she could not have possibly known this Zack person. Could she?

Cloud saw her close to one of the shops, taking shelter from the sun's fast-fading glare in the shadows. She seemed to be all right, though she was chewing her lip with a pensive expression. Perhaps she knew where Aeris was. As Cloud approached, he saw Tifa's lips moving, as if she was speaking to herself, thinking out loud, but he was as yet too far to hear what his childhood friend was saying.

"Zack . . ." She trailed off. Cloud frowned. What did Tifa know about Zack?

"Did you know him?" he asked, regretting the words almost the very instant they left his mouth. Tifa jumped and turned to face him, wide-eyed and startled. She shook her head violently.

"No," she blurted, staring right into Cloud's eyes as if to see if he believed her. "No, I don't know him," she added for emphasis.

Despite the vehement denial, or perhaps because of it, doubt stirred in Cloud's mind. Something was just not right about Tifa's stance and expression. "Your face tells me differently," he said blandly. The words had some effect on her, raised some emotion, but whether it was shock or anger he could not tell. She stamped one foot and turned her back on him the moment the reaction reached her face.

"I told you, I don't know him!" Her voice was seething and Cloud knew he would get nothing more out of her. Tifa always had been a rather stubborn one, beneath the shyness.

"All right, then." He shook his head and turned to leave.

"He sounded just like you," Tifa's words stopped him. "From what his parents said, I mean" she continued, quieter than before. Cloud turned back but she was still not facing him. "You know, leaving town to join SOLDIER and all."

Cloud shrugged, though he knew she could not see him. "There were a lot of guys like that back then."

"You really must be something to make it out of a big group like that." Tifa looked at him over her shoulder. "I really respect that, you know." Cloud's mouth twisted into an uncertain frown. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, unaccustomed to this kind of attention, and from Tifa no less.

"I got lucky," he mumbled.

Tifa turned around, smiling openly at him. "Don't be so humble. It must have taken a lot of hard work, I bet." She walked towards him, more cheerful than she had been when he had first found her. "I'm going to find the others at the inn. Thanks for caring, Cloud." He could not even mumble anything further, thrown off guard by her sentiment.

He straightened as soon as she was out of sight. He still had to find Aeris and it was definitely past 'half-light' now. She had seemed very upset. Who knew where she could have run off to, what despicably unclean mako-beast she could have met out there in the green? He hurried along the pathway back towards the cemetery, his body fully in the throes of a rebellious streak of panic. Gods above, he hoped she had done the smart thing and just gone back to the inn where Red and the others waited.

What if she hadn't? A thousand thoughts bombarded his mind, a thousand fears and worries, from where, he could not tell. He could only feel his heart slamming his ribs in a rhythm that matched his hurried footfalls. Heaven forbid she be lying somewhere at the side of the road, poisoned or petrified. What would he tell her mother?

A deeper fear ripped through him, dizzying in its intensity. What would he do without her? How would he be able to breathe knowing he had left her to come to harm? Fear gripped him tight, its claws so tight that he did not notice that he was no longer seeing what was really in front of him, that this severe emotion was not his own.

A rustling sound at his side drew his attention and the pink blur he could not see drove the anxiety from his mind, leaving the space to be filled with a relief that was at least partially his. He felt his mind and body return to him without ever realizing that they had left. Aeris stood before him, picking twigs out of her braid. Her nose was tipped with an unusual pink glow and the dark eyelashes seemed glued together with dampness. Even Cloud, as oblivious as he usually was to such things, could see that she had been crying.

"Aeris?" He stepped towards her, reaching out with one hand but without knowing why, stopped short of giving her a comforting touch. He watched her chest move as she took a deep breath.

"I didn't know Zack was from this town," she explained ruefully. "I was a little shocked, I suppose." Cloud's suspicions were confirmed.

"You knew him, then?" The girl turned her eyes on him, the green taking a hint of funereal blackness from the deep purple of the sunless sky.

"Didn't I tell you?" The words were almost a whisper. "He was my first love." Cloud could think of nothing to say and chose instead to focus on stifling the prickly jealousy he could feel welling up in him. Aeris continued a bit sadly at his lack of response. "Zack . . .SOLDIER First Class, same as Cloud," she said, and the blond swordsman almost swore that she was staring right into his soul as she did. It must have been a trick of the light.

He shook the odd feeling out of him. "It's strange," he stated, "There aren't that many who make First Class, but I've never heard of him." Aeris turned away, resignation in her eyes.

"It's okay. I was just worried because it seems he's been missing." She lowered her head and her braid fell forward. "Nobody's heard from him for a long time," she whispered. "I thought it was just me."

Cloud frowned, now genuinely curious. "He's really missing? When did you last hear from him?" He heard the girl's deep breath before she answered. It seemed her shoulders were shaking a bit, but perhaps it was only the effect of the fast-growing, darkening shadows.

"It was about five or six years ago." Again, it seemed that her shoulders quivered. "He went out on a mission and never wrote like he said he would." Her voice quavered, as if she was close to tears. Cloud stepped towards her once more and again stopped just short of taking her in his arms for comfort. She spoke again, desperately trying to hold back the tears that she had just managed to dam. Words flooded out in their place. "He must have found someone else. He always had been a ladies' man. Girls were constantly flocking to him." She wrapped her arms around herself, as if to ward off a chill. "I just wished he had told me."

She raised her head and turned face the blond once more. "I don't really mind that I never heard from him," she smiled despite the damp trails that shone with bright evening starlight on her cheeks. "I really feel for his parents though."

Cloud nodded. "I know." There was nothing to be done for the poor old couple, desperate for any word of their errant son. He took a few steps along the dirt trail, back the way he had come. There was no light now but that of the faint stars above. It was no time to be out in the brush anywhere. "Come on, Aeris," he called back to the stone-still flower girl. "Let's head back to get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning."

Aeris silently followed, bearing both the loss of one love so long ago and fear for what she still dared not call her new one in her heart.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Deep in the forest, half hidden in the darkness, the tall swordsman breathed a sigh of relief for the delicate one. She was safe, unharmed, only a bit tearful. The small stabs of jealousy he had felt at realizing that those lips had been tasted before he had sampled them were fading now. He should have known it immediately from her very first response, shy, but knowledgeable. Someone had to have taught her how to kiss that way.

Glowing eyes closed, shutting out the picture of the starlit glade for memories of his fragile flower's reactions to his touch. The shivering, those startled gasps, the way she almost shied away from his deeper caresses, the way those lovely eyes opened to catch the entire night sky as his hands grew bolder, such deep surprise from her, so intense, it was obvious. The dark-haired one had never done such things to her, had not gone beyond the first very innocent steps of love play.

It did not fit what the former General remembered of the man, but it did not matter. That brash one was long dead. Out of the way. The green-eyed man had done the job himself, long before he had even known there was a prize to be won from it, something worth having to be snatched from the brazen one's careless grasp. The sweet, shining one was his to claim now. She would scream herself hoarse beneath him and no one else, ever.

He stood facing in the direction of the small village, the direction she would come running from if she did come to him tonight. She would come. He knew it. The night was warm and bright and she might need . . . comfort.

He smiled as he undid the clasp of his coat, prepared to give her that comfort and so much more.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for all the feedback and for putting up with the long wait (even if some of you weren't exactly patient :P). Bear with me, I am going somewhere with this.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer:** FFVII is the property of Squaresoft. I make no claim to the main characters or the plot of the actual game. The original elements in this story are my own. I do not write this for personal gain.

_The two-year anniversary chapter_

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter 10**

The bed was plain, but very soft, more comfortable than anything she had slept on for a while. The mattress enfolded her, threatened to swallow her. The bedding molded itself around her body like a glove, cushioning every aching limb, but no soft, fluffy bed could ease the pain inside her. Aeris buried her face in her pillow. Despite the warmth of the night in that forested village, she pulled the coarsely woven sheet up around her head. It was all the shield she had to hide the sorrow that had been exhumed from its resting place in her heart.

She had loved him. Despite what she had first said to Cloud, how she had tried to brush it off, she had loved that dark-haired rascal, Zack. True, she had been young and foolishly giddy with the headiness of that first tender love, but he had been one of the few, perhaps the only one, whom she had ever dared to open up to that way. He had not stared at her, or ridiculed her despite the many things she tried to explain to him, the things his isolated mind could never understand. Despite his confusion, she had known he cared for her. He had been such a warm, shining presence at her side. His many letters had been seeds of hope in her heart when duty called him away, till the day came when duty took him and the fragile hope slowly froze in the loneliness that had been there long before.

At first she had thought it only a small delay, but when the days turned to weeks and the months became a year without a single word from him, she knew he had left her forever. She had cried then, much as she was doing now, cried because she thought she should have seen it coming. Why would such a handsome warrior choose to stay with a shy, strange little girl when there were so many grown women begging to satisfy him? She had shed so many tears over his betrayal of trust, then resolved to bury her sorrow deep inside in the hope that it would soften the blow of harsh loneliness to forget his comfort.

She had been wrong all along. There was no forgetting a first love, no matter what the supposed circumstances of its ending. It had been so long before she stopped seeing shadows of him in everything and when she thought she had finally banished them, a yellow-headed likeness dared to walk into her life. Such a painful thing, meeting that fair-haired one. It was like seeing her love clothed in someone else's flesh and blood. It was knowing deep within that he had done his best to return to her and failed.

He had not left her, not of his own accord. Something had happened to him. He had been hurt, wounded, isolated somewhere away from the ones who loved him. He might be dead. Fresh tears sprung to her eyes, their source her guilt at having cursed him so long for leading her on. No, he had not done so. His mother's hidden fears, masked by the tattered hope she clung to had shown Aeris the truth of it. Something had happened to her first love. Within days the ones he cared for, the ones who cared for him had noticed it, and none of them knew the full truth, even now. The pieces were aligned now, but still none dared to put them together and declare that heartbreaking picture whole.

The girl turned over in the small bed to face the little window, open for the fresh night air. The sky was jet black out there, like his hair and the stars, the beautiful twinkling stars... Zack had promised to show them to her one day, but never had. Someone else, with hair as pale as his had been dark had done that for her. She tried and failed to stifle a cry at that thought. The pale one plainly wanted her, might even care for her, but what good was that? If anything he was even more likely to leave her in loneliness than Zack had been.

One day Sephiroth would truly remember whatever mad mission he was on and abandon her. Failing that, he would be taken from her, made to pay for his horrible crimes. They shared something wonderful but deep down, much as she wanted otherwise from him, from anyone, Aeris knew it could not last. It could not last.

Quietly, so as not to wake the others, she slipped out of bed and tread gently over the floor. The night air drew her to the window, where she stood with her arms wrapped around herself, more for the shred of comfort than to ward off a chill. She made no sound, but let the tears come and watched as the pinpoints of light above burst into dancing sparks. Sorrow came when it would and she was helpless to stop her tears when she did not even know what she wept for. Was it for the love long gone or the one who might never be?

Life was too abundant here for her sorrow to last long. Though this village had once been as sick and barren as Midgar, the Planet had reclaimed it. The earth still bore the taint of stolen souls but the song of the Planet was peaceful here, quietly beautiful. Aeris felt the mild strains of it wrapping around her body, offering sympathy and comfort. Her tears ceased and she saw clearly again the black line of forest beyond the bounds of Gongaga, distinguishable from the sky only by the scattering of dazzling lights in the heavens.

She sighed at the wonder of it, regretting that she could not pick out the figures Sephiroth had shown her. Perhaps he would show them to her again, if she asked. The Planet's presence grew warm inside her as the thought crossed her mind, and the deeper longing that sorrow had suppressed made its existence known once more. She ached for the feel of his arms around her, for the touch of his lips, for something deeper she would not admit to herself. It was painful, wanting him and not really knowing why, wanting him and not having him, wanting him and fearing that he would abandon her, leave her desperately lonely. The memory of his dream form enhanced her longing and threatened to make her weep again.

The Planet caught her emotion up in itself, using the thread of it to lead her as it had before. Aeris drifted along willingly, lost in thought. She was almost to the door of the rustic inn when she returned to herself, wide-eyed and barefoot, but she knew exactly where she had to go. The Planet had shown her the way.

She slid out the door, closed it with care to prevent being caught mid-flight and then she ran as fast as her bare feet could take her over rough ground in the dark. She had only the starlight to guide her and it was hardly any use once she reached the thick canopy of the trees. She needed no light anyway, guided by the Planet's tie of pure emotion. She hurried along, feeling that familiar coil deep and low inside her. Threads of it wove their way through her body, spinning upwards to pull at her mind and cutting her heart with their fineness on the way.

Tears pricked her eyes again. Was this all there was, this aching desire of her body? Was there all there ever would be for them? The burning desire twisted and grew inside her, driving her onward despite the threat of a deluge from green eyes. She could feel the spiraling emotion threading its way down to every fiber of her being. It flowed to the ends of her body and the threads grew taut as the strings of a harp. Base instinct reached out from the center like a claw and plucked the main thread.

The force of it stopped her and she had to press her hands to a tree's rough trunk for support. She stood gasping as the vibration struck the furthest reaches of her body. It was tingling and pulsating and sheer yearning that began at her core and spread all the way to her fingertips. It flowed through her, a vibrant humming that made her entire body resonate with desire, though her mind was still torn by renewed sorrow. She almost collapsed beneath the might of the wild strumming inside her but the scrape of the rough bark beneath her palms anchored her as she slid. She shivered as she stood, fearful that she would lose herself completely to the mad musician's playing. She stared blankly into the darkness for a while, overcome by so much emotion that her knees threatened to give out beneath her, but the pull in her veins was too strong.

One breath and she was flying again, desperate for Sephiroth's gentle touch, for his warmth. She needed his strength to hold her up. She needed his lips to drive the aching from her body. And she wept as she moved, knowing that whatever her body craved, it could never be all that her heart wanted. When at last the near blackness beneath her pale feet gave way to a deep silvery blue she darted through the brush and ran straight into the arms of the one for whom she pined.

He wrapped her in the warmth she had dreamed of since that night on the beach when she had first lain at his side. Large hands moved slowly up and down her back, pressing her to the broad bare chest. She welcomed the closeness, grateful for a place to rest her cheek as desire flared through her body and called to her lonesome mind.

Sephiroth buried a smile in the girl's dark hair as his hands moved hungrily down her back, eager for the feel of her supple body beneath the thin cloth of her dress. She would be just as eager for his touch by now. He was sure of it. He had seen her pining, felt her joy at his presence even through the barriers of her mind, where there could be only truth. He was ready, anxious to erase all memories of the dark-haired one from her mind. She still thought of that one even now, he could tell, but that innocent remembrance would go out like a candle before the flames he would soon rouse in her.

She was not wearing her jacket, he was pleased to note, and her pale shoulders were beautifully, temptingly bare. Sephiroth leaned closer, filled with the urge to taste each one in turn. Hot wetness against his chest stopped him, made him draw up short.

Her damp tears were on his skin, cooling rapidly in the night air. Tears for that other one, Zack. Silently, he cursed the name, viciously angry that the woman he desired so badly could still so openly feel for one long dead. He tensed and his body shook with rage even as he held the slender woman in his arms. Before he realized what he was doing, his arms tightened around her, exerting only a fraction of their crushing strength in his jealousy.

Luck was with him. She mistook the force of his hold for extra comfort and brought her own arms up to wrap them tightly around his waist. She tilted her head to look up at him and as he caught the look of sad relief in her eyes, his jealousy faded. There was sadness for that other one in those green depths, but something for him too. His arms loosened, though he kept her close, unable to tear his gaze away from the starlight that danced in her eyes.

He brought one hand up to brush dark wayward wisps away from her face and watched, entranced, at the way her lower lip trembled. He was a hair's breadth away from claiming them when she spoke.

"Don't leave me," her voice wavered and her entire body shook in his arms with fine tremors. "Please, Sephiroth, don't leave me alone!" His name on her lips with such a plea made his heart leap in his chest and he crushed the little woman tight against his body once more, this time with the intent he knew she deserved. Her shoulders heaved as he held her and though she made no sound, he immediately realized that she was crying openly, crying out of loneliness for him.

She had been lonely too long.

His chest seemed to tighten at the thought. He kept one arm around her bare shoulders and his face buried in her hair as he whispered his reassurance. "Never, never, sweetheart." The words rushed out in a frantic torrent. "I'll never leave you alone, never." His throat constricted. She was his to claim, his to keep, his alone. He would never leave her to someone else.

He kept his eyes closed but every heaving motion of her body was sign enough that she wept still. Without his realizing it, even with her pressed so hard against him, the dark lusts he had been nursing all day took second place to the reality of her tears. There was nothing he could do but stand there with his arms around her.

Unconsciously, he began to sway, gently rocking her from side to side. Without a memory of his own to draw on, he relied on instinct to soothe her that way, the way a child should be comforted.

Her fierce shaking eventually quieted to a slight trembling. Sephiroth kept her close till her slender body was completely still. She seemed so tiny without the extra height her boots lent, almost too small for the circle of his arms. He stood there and simply enjoyed the closeness for a while, then took a small step back to look at her again.

His breathing hitched at the sight of her face, still streaked with tears. "Oh, sweetheart," he cried, surprised at how easily the term rolled off his lips. "I am always with you." She frowned a little, bewildered at the statement. She did not know how often he watched her through blue eyes. He smiled. It was best she did not know, for now. "One day, sweetheart, if that's what you want from me, we'll go somewhere together and stay there. I will never leave you."

Aeris stared up at him, so full of want that it hurt, but still not daring to fully believe that those words were what they seemed to be. Did he mean what he said? Was he truly offering her forever? She tightened her grip around his waist as her knees trembled. It seemed too perfect to be real, to have a promise of eternity offered to her when she yearned for it so badly, even from this tall warrior she needed for no reason she dared to admit.

She quivered again as desire ran through her body like a low hum. It was as if his words had plucked the strings of longing in her body and set them madly vibrating again, harder than before. She leaned heavily against him with her head tilted sharply back. She struggled for breath, so conquered by roiling emotion that human sight left her. There was nothing left but sheer feeling. All she knew was want for the one who held her. She could feel his arms around her but had no room to care that she could not see his face. She could not see the concern in his eyes as he looked down at her. She did not see their rising heat at the sight of her parted lips.

All she could do was _feel _the crush of his mouth on hers. Desire flared white hot through every part of her, completely consumed her. Sephiroth's hands burned trails on her body as they moved lower down her back to finally settle on her hips. She returned to herself in slivers, regaining slow awareness of her senses but losing none of the fire the tall swordsman roused in her.

His body was a furnace against her own, wrapping her in a heat that nearly matched the one within her. His scent surrounded her, so intoxicatingly male that she knew she could lose herself in it, and the taste of him as he plundered her mouth only made her hungry for more. His silvery hair brushed her forehead, feathery soft and she shivered despite the heat they shared, her skin grown exquisitely sensitive to his touch. It was almost too much and she had to turn her face away to catch her breath.

Sephiroth continued to lavish his attentions on her despite losing her sweet lips. He pressed soft kisses to her cheek, caught the delicate curve of her ear between his teeth and slowly traced a path down to the lobe with his tongue. She shivered so violently from it that he had to tighten his grip around her waist to keep her against him. Her scent twisted around him, whetting his desire for her. He bent lower to taste her throat and earned a low purr from her. It turned his blood to a stream of flames.

His hands resumed their roaming along the curves of her body, fingers splayed to reach as much of her as possible. When she leaned back from the onslaught of his teeth on her neck, he wasted no time reaching along the space between them to run his hands from her shoulder to her waist. He growled in satisfaction at her stifled cry as his hand swept over the curve of her breast, then reached up to cup her face with both hands, capturing her lips for another burning kiss.

He was almost swept away. Aeris responded to his burning passion with a flood of her own desire. Sephiroth struggled for his footing, half-drowned in the force of her kisses. For one instant, he sensed the pure power that had first drawn him, but it was deep inside her and shifting. The tide of energy within her was turning now from something almost impossibly pure to a warmer, more magnetic force. If anything it drew him to her harder than before.

They stood there, two shadowy figures touched with night's cold blue light, hungrily devouring each other beneath the trees. Sephiroth let his hands slide from the girl's face, down her neck and over those pale, smooth shoulders. He frowned even as he kissed her. The thins straps of her simple dress were in the way, an unwelcome ridge along the line of her body. He was suddenly filled with a burning need to touch every part of her without the hindrance of the cloth between them. A quick movement of his fingers and the straps were off, sliding over the smooth curves to hang limply around her arms. The girl made a small sound of surprise and immediately brought her arms higher up on Sephiroth's back, fearful that the slender straps would slip any lower and take her dress with them.

The tall man pulled away just the smallest bit at her action to take in the sight of her. She held her arms up with the straps she was so concerned with lying across them. She seemed like a bird who had been about to take flight, frozen in time. Sephiroth barely held back a grin of satisfaction at the worry on her face. He knew what she feared, but there was no need for it. His eyes left her face, slid downwards. Her body had all the curves of a grown woman, emphasized now by the way she held her breath to keep the neckline of her dress from slipping any lower. Her dress would not fall to the ground on its own no matter how badly he wanted it to. There was nothing he could do but lend assistance.

He snaked an arm around her waist again to hold her steady while he leaned in to run his tongue along the extra inch of skin the sliding dress had revealed. He relished the firmness of her young body, the way it yielded to his touch. He was drawn to the curves of her breasts, to the shadow between them where the fragrance of her body rose up, sweet and almost childlike in its innocence, like she was. What skin he could reach was as honeyed as her lips and he burned to know if she tasted the same all over.

He felt her hands grasping and twisting the length of his hair. It was just a gentle pull, as if she still had the presence of mind to be wary of hurting him even in the midst of what he was doing to her. Sephiroth growled into her chest, determined to change that. When he was through with her she would not even remember her name. In one sharp move he lifted her clear off the ground and held her against his body with just one arm. She cried out in surprise and he watched, delighted, at the way her mouth flew open as she did so, at the way her chest heaved with her gasps.

He was hardly unaffected. He buried his face between her breasts once more, unable to withhold a deep, low moan. Thin as it was, the fabric of her dress was definitely a nuisance now. He set to work with his teeth, pulling and tugging at the cloth around the top button. It had been quite a while since he had last done such a thing and he found himself unpracticed and clumsy at first, but the knowledge returned quickly and the button was soon free. The second soon followed, then the third and the fabric sagged limply against the girl's body. With a quick twist of his head, Sephiroth parted the folds. He spared an appreciative glance and a satisfied smile for the pale lace undergarment his actions had revealed, then pressed a kiss, just one, right over Aeris' heart.

The effect was electric. She gasped and arched her back, pressing herself even harder against him and he felt her heart racing beneath his lips. His own soared in triumph. No other had ever done this to her, he was sure, and he would let no other have the chance, not when his body screamed for the need of her. He let her slide to her feet again so he could press himself completely against her. He wanted so badly for her to know his need. His grabbed her hips tight and thrust his own against them, crying out from the sensation of her body pressing against him where he needed her attentions most. Even from this, barely on the borders of what he wanted to do to her, he found exquisite pleasure. She reacted instantly, instinctively.

With a sharp cry she pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him hard, breaking out of his grasp. He was caught completely by surprise and stumbled back, eyes wide with shock as the air touched his skin. What was happening here? This was not what he had intended. He saw her running away from him and caught himself before he could move to catch her. He stood rigid, flushed with passion and denied release. He clenched his fists in the dark and forced himself to stay still, though he was tormented by the image of Aeris flat on her back in the grass, nude, gasping, writhing. His blood pounded so hard he thought he felt his entire body throb.

There was no room for this if he intended to correct the situation. He needed to make a clear assessment. Through sheer will alone, the mako-eyed swordsman forced the pictures from his mind and looked to see how far the slender girl had gone. She had run only a short distance away before stopping, still in plain sight, but out of his reach. She was a shadow in the dimly lit glade, with her back to him and her arms wrapped around herself, her body heaving irregularly with each shaky breath.

Aeris' mind whirled, full of so many conflicting desires that it was a wonder she could remember herself at all. She stood there, silent but for the sound of her breathing. She had almost let him have her, right then and there. Her body still ached for his touch, even more than it had before. The feel of his hands, his lips on her skin had released the torrents of her desire and she had almost lost herself in the deluge. Almost.

For a while, she had been completely under it, unable to think or feel anything beyond what he had been doing to her, what her body wanted. Aeris' mind reeled at the thought. She had been so ready, so lost at that point that she would have gone along with his actions, with the desire, her own and the Planet's, had the sudden sharp reality of it had not entered her mind as the hardness that made him a man pressed against her body. If any doubts had remained about his intentions, they had been pushed away by that thrust.

Aeris shivered. Faced with that certainty she felt so unprepared. The sheer sensation she had allowed to rule her just moments ago warred now with a lifetime of admonitions and lessons. Her body's wants were steadily losing ground before the image of her mother. Elmyra's words echoed in her mind, reminding her again and again that good girls just did not do what she had been about to. Briefly she wondered if Sephiroth's earlier promise had been one of those tricks her mother had warned her about. The whispered warnings of her Cetra ancestors returned to her, reminding her that she was to stay as far away from _that _one as possible. Aeris cringed inside. She held herself tighter as she stared down at her feet.

How could she have been so reckless? Why hadn't she considered this before? If she had simply let her body rule her she would have let so many others down. She would have become a disgrace, a shame to herself, her family and her race, all for satisfaction. She knew Sephiroth stood where she had left him, though he had been perfectly silent and still. The Planet still tied her to his presence though she could sense something strange in its fading presence. Was it disappointment?

She shook her head to clear her mind and busied herself with refastening her dress. It had been about to slip straight down to her waist, undone as it was. The job took longer than usual. Her shaking hands could not seem to guide the buttons properly, but she managed somehow. She ran a hand down the front, smoothing the cloth as best she could. She stopped when she reached that place below her navel, between her hips.

It was there that he had pressed against her and her flesh still held the memory of the feeling. It was there that her own desire was centered and in that instant she remembered the way it had flared at the sensation. She shivered again, distressed, and wrapped her arms around herself once more, unsure of what she wanted and how much she could have.

"Aeris," Sephiroth called so quietly to her that she could not discern what emotion lay in his voice. "Aeris." He called out again more insistently. She did not trust herself to turn.

Sephiroth's frustration grew and he slammed a fist into the nearest tree. Aeris jumped at the sound and though she made no other move, he instantly regretted it. He leaned against the trunk to gather his thoughts and heap curses upon the southern clime for being warm when he needed a blizzard to cool his blood. His eyes never left the girl's slender frame.

He breathed deeply and allowed the distance between them to still the rushing in his veins. He saw now that had pushed her too hard. She was so young and clearly innocent. She would not respond favorably to such blatant moves, not yet. He stared at her fraying braid, studied the way it spiraled down to her hips. Her hair had been loose when he had seen her on the beach. The braid with its big bow made her seem even younger than her years.

He shook his head, disappointed with himself. Someone like her was not to be won with crude gestures and openly offered lust, not so quickly. He had to be careful. As he had said, there was more at stake than the simple sating of his lust, though lately, the reason he usually gave did not quite ring true even in his own ears. He knew his offerings of flowers were only a start, not enough to open her up completely to him. She needed more soft words, gentle caresses and most importantly, time.

She might even require a contract, a ring. His frustration faded and he smiled in the dark, amused at the thought. He might as well go through with it if that was what she wanted. Why not? He wanted her and no one else at his side, after all. He wondered if he would be able to find some clergyman to perform the rite. Oddly enough for someone so solitary, the thought of a secret marriage appealed to him. She would be his and no one else would know. It would be something for them alone.

He pulled himself out of his musing. For now he had to be sure that he had not scared her away for good. She had not left the glade completely and that had to be a good sign. He called out to her again.

"Aeris."

This time she did turn, if a bit hesitantly. Her eyes were wide and she kept her arms tight across her waist. He could read the tenseness in her shoulders but there was no fear that he could see in her. Many other things, certainly, but no fear. Her gaze fell to the ground when she noticed him staring. She could not meet his eyes anymore. Sephiroth almost flinched at the realization that he had made her feel ashamed of herself. He stepped forward with his arms hanging loosely at his sides so she could see that he meant no harm.

"Aeris, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he started. She raised her head to look at him then and gave him her full attention, her eyes wide, the green touched with the surrounding dark. "I'm sorry," he continued, suddenly worried that he would sound tame or insincere. "I did not mean to push you. I . . . I . . ." He trailed off, fumbling for the right words. "I want you so badly," he blurted out uncontrollably and cursed himself almost before the words left his mouth. His mind scrambled again to provide what he needed to arrest the damage. He did not even notice that Aeris had shown no surprise at his admission.

"I should not have done that just now, Aeris, and I am sorry." Now it was his head that was bowed in genuine shame. "I do want you, Aeris." His voice was just a murmur. "I still want you but I'll never force you, I swear." With his head down he could not see the shift in her expression at his shaking voice. "I won't push you, Aeris," he continued, "but I can't deny what I feel either. I can only promise you that I won't do anything you don't want me to."

He heard her slow footsteps on the grass, saw her tiny grass-stained feet stop in front of him. He looked up to catch an expression of uncertainty on her face. With the flames that had burned him before now doused by hard-won self control, there was time to take in the quiet splendor of her presence. He watched her slightest move, fascinated by the movement of her throat as she swallowed before speaking.

"I... I don't know what I want," she whispered. "I thought I did. I thought I was sure, thought I was ready." Her words spilled out, hushed but hurried. "I... sometimes I think... I know... " She turned her face away, unable to look at him as she spoke, and her voice sank to a tone so soft she would have been completely inaudible had the night not been so perfectly still.

"I want you too." The confession, openly stated for the first time, made it almost too real for her, but for Sephiroth it was a dream. He reached out and took her in his arms, determined not to let her get away again. She jerked a bit in surprise but stayed where she was, stiff and unyielding, as if she feared the contact. He did not care, overcome with joy at her words.

"Oh, Aeris, sweetheart!" He could not keep the joy from his voice though he was careful not to let his hands slip too low. "We won't do anything you're not ready for, I promise. If I get too frisky for you again, feel free to slap me silly."

She did smile then and leaned into his touch. She wrapped her arms around his waist, rested her head on his chest and let him sway her as he had before. "You'll wait for me then? Till I'm sure?" she asked.

"Of course I will, dear one." He pressed a cheek against her hair as he rocked her and at the same time hoped he would be able to convince her not to keep him waiting forever. He did not think he would be able to stand it. He wondered if she would mind much if he did kidnap a cleric. He laughed at himself inside. What a thing to happen, that a confirmed bachelor would think such a thing twice in one night. She certainly was making him desperate, but for all things to come together properly he needed her fully willing at his side and at least under the impression that it had been her decision. He exhaled loudly. "Anything you want, Aeris, if it's in my power to give, it's yours. Anything at all."

She leaned back to look up at him. "Anything?"

"Yes, anything, sweetheart." Now he was curious.

"Will you... will you show me the stars again? I looked but I can't find the ones you showed me."

Sephiroth smiled at her again, a bit sadly. She was just so young sometimes, choosing fairytales and bedtime stories over deep kisses. No matter. He had promised her whatever she wanted. He took her hand and led her to the center of the glade where a small patch of sky bright with stars shone through. He frowned. There was not much room to see anything. The patch was too small to show any one constellation. He saw Aeris looking at him expectantly.

"There's not enough space overhead, I'm afraid," he explained. He felt a twinge of guilt at the way her face fell. Just moments after making his promise he was about to break it. And it was such a shame too. Gongaga was not so brightly lit as Costa del Sol and the night sky here was stunning, full of stars that dimmed out of sight in the glare of a mako lantern. Aeris only nodded and pressed her cheek against his chest again. The tall man had just barely managed to catch the deep disappointment in her eyes, but it was enough to kindle regret in his own.

Well, he was the most powerful man on the Planet, wasn't he? What good were all his unnatural abilities if he did not put them to use? He took both her hands in his and brought her arms up around his neck.

"Trust me, sweetheart, and hold on tight." He watched her confusion turn to alarm as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. He grinned when he saw her surprise spark into a hint of familiar outrage in the split second before she realized that they were hovering above the ground, rising slowly. And she had been just about to yell at him too.

Instead her eyes flew wide open. Her arms tightened around his neck as she clung to him. Sephiroth laughed softly and gave her a little squeeze as they floated in a slow spiral up to the leaves. "Don't worry," he assured her, "I won't drop you."

"You'd better not!" She buried her face in his chest.

The feel of her curves pressed against him was heavenly but he could see that the journey distressed her and he did not want that. He wanted her to see how the green leaves, silvered by the lights of the sky, shrunk to nothing as they rose. He needed her to open her eyes. "Aeris, don't be afraid. Open your eyes." The words were a tender stream against her hair. He felt her head move beneath his chin in response.

"I'm not afraid," she murmured. It was not entirely convincing. They were rising through the leafy canopy now and Sephiroth was forced to make small corrections to his course to avoid the longer branches. He felt her tiny feet bump against his shins as he did so and immediately realized how precarious her situation seemed. He certainly was not about to let her fall, but though he did not feel particularly subject to the laws of gravity and motion when he levitated, she obviously did. With her only support being his hold on her, no wonder she was nervous.

With a lightning quick move he swung her, undeterred by her shrill cry, so that he could reach one arm under her knees and cradle her close to his bare chest. After a tense moment she relaxed, secure in his arms. The tall man smiled at her. "Better now?"

Her eyes flashed with mock outrage. "Next time warn me before you do something like that!" Sephiroth could not hold back his grin.

"All right, all right, dear. Mind the twigs."

She stared openly now, unafraid. The sky opened up wide and cloudless above them as they left the forest below. The deep blue ceiling of night was alive with a mass shimmering lights. Aeris almost forgot to breathe at the sight of it. She had never guessed that there were that many stars in the sky, so many that they lit the Planet below with their pale glimmering. It was a wonder the sky could fit them all.

"It's better when there are no clouds or electric lights," the man who held her said.

"You can see everything."

A shared whisper, followed by a shared glance and warm smiles . . .

Aeris rested her head on Sephiroth's shoulder, reveling in the warmth of his bare skin and only vaguely aware of his slow spinning. He did not seem to be moving any higher, settling for a height that was only a short distance above the trees, but he still spun in a slow circle for her, comforting her with gentle motion just as he had before. Aeris closed her eyes, forgetting the stars for a while. She felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. With the hand she had allowed to slip from his neck she traced a small, complex pattern of swirls on his body. She could feel the strength in him just beneath her fingertips. She felt the vibration of his voice and leaned in to hear him almost before he spoke.

"There's Daeran, the King." He motioned with a tilt of his head. "He seems to always stand out brightly no matter what the conditions. Aeris lifted her head to look and made a delighted sound when she recognized the constellation. She remembered her first lesson well. All she needed was a reference point.

"That's the Queen over there then, right?" she asked and pointed with her free hand. She almost missed Sephiroth's sound of approval, lost in wonder as she stared at the dazzling spray of lights that formed the woman's hair. She kept looking until Sephiroth's unhurried twirling hid the figure from view.

Sephiroth was so busy staring at her that it was a while before he realized that he had her attention again. He kissed her forehead and continued the lesson with a smile, a real one that made his eyes light up with more than mako. He pointed out the bright constellations she already knew and showed her the fainter ones that could only be seen on a night like this. He showed her Daval, the Great Sails and Sarashura the Wise Woman, who sat in the northwest with a book in her lap. He taught her how to recognize both the Big and Little Chocobos and had a small argument as to whether Aria the Tree was really a tree or a lit up umbrella shape in the sky.

All the while he held her close, leisurely spinning in place, making countless slow circles to show her everything. He adored the way she soaked it all in, bright-eyed and eager for more. As much as he had craved her before, this was enough, just having her slight form in his arms, with that expression on her face and that light in her eyes. It would be enough for now. They were both silent as he turned to the Southern skies again. Rikha, the Little Flame burned before them but he did not point it out. She lay so quiet and still that he thought she was asleep.

It was only when she raised her head suddenly that he realized she was not. "Sephiroth, what's that?" He looked along the line of her arm to where she pointed, a spot low on the horizon, just above the dark sheet that was the ocean.

"What's what, sweetheart?"

"That space there," she said, her face turned completely away from him. "There's nothing there, no stars . . ."

"Oh." He recognized what she spoke of, an odd patch of the dark sky that truly was dark on a night like this. It was a strange shape, formed of two ellipses of shadow just touching each other, with no stars within or between them. It was a rarely seen thing, so low in the sky, and its visibility inherently dependent upon that of the fine mist of stars that defined its blurry borders. He shook his head as he spoke. "There's not much about it in the few Ancient Tome translations I've read. They called it simply 'Darkness'."

Aeris turned back to him. "That's all there was?" He could see her disappointment.

"In the Great volumes, that was all." He tightened his grip on her, the closest he could get to hugging her in their position. "There were other things, random old scrolls, recorded folktales and such." He looked at her face and knew he would never tire of teaching her. He paused for a moment to gather what scraps of information he had to feed her.

"Tell me," she insisted, and he almost smiled again at her impatience, reminded of his earlier thoughts about how young she was, but when he answered her, his voice was grim.

"The old stories say that there were once two stars in that space. Just two, one on each side. One day, no one knows how or why, one of them simply went out, vanished, and the other was left alone. It remained there that way for a very long time." Sephiroth paused again but Aeris, made pensive by his somber tone, did not hurry him this time.

Instead, she wrapped her arms firmly around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder as she waited patiently for him to continue. "The Dark Queen grew tired of seeing the star all alone, so she cast him from the skies to the land below with instructions to find another to accompany him." They said nothing for a while and the infinite Darkness disappeared behind them as they turned in midair.

Aeris' voice held a trace of sadness when she spoke. "He never found anyone, did he? If his place in the skies is still empty..." Sephiroth shook his head and Aeris almost sighed. "Then he still roams the Planet, all alone..."

Sephiroth caught the flicker in her eyes and hugged her again, then rested his head on her own. "So the tales say," he replied, and his voice barely rose above a breath in that still night, "but if he is still here, he's only searching like the rest of us."

Silence wrapped around them as they floated above the forest, holding tight to each other to ward off the loneliness that had haunted them all their lives. Though they exchanged no more words that night they had the same quiet thoughts, deeply, perfectly grateful for the uncertain, beautiful thing they shared.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Disclaimer: **Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Eleven**

The forms before her were barely more than swirling smoke, pale, indistinct impressions in the surrounding darkness. They seemed too indefinite for the harsh voices that rose from them.

_"How could you?"_ They screamed. _"You, our last daughter, you lie with the child of our enemy!"_

Aeris stood her ground, calm in the face of it all. The darkness was firm enough beneath her feet. She regretted none of the decisions she had made. They could scream all they want. What did they know of what she faced? They did not have to live each day with the Planet's lonesome cries ringing in their ears.

Almost before the thought crossed her own mind, she heard it echo through the dark in a clear, familiar voice. The hazy shades of the angry ones rippled at the sound. Aeris turned, eager to see the one who could make these wise ones shake. Who held such power over them?

There was no one too see. Only Aeris herself had true form in the shade, but she felt the bold presence draw nearer. It hovered there, warm, protective, reassuring. It weighed heavily on Aeris' shoulder and the girl thought she felt the light brush of fingers against her skin. She knew the voice that rang out from that presence at her side. It was one that spoke often to her, though usually distant and weaker than the others.

_"You know nothing,"_ the quiet one raged, _"nothing of what the last one must bear." _The unseen fingers tightened on Aeris. _"You don't know what it's like to live with that kind of isolation!"_

The smoke almost solidified into true faces at the assault. Aeris felt the shift. She grew weak with the realization that there were greater forces at work here, that she was insignificant, a pawn. Her vision blurred and the dim shapes swirled as her dizziness grew. She felt herself fall away slowly and was grateful to escape the growing confrontation. The warmth of the defending presence tried to cradle her and though she slid right through it, she spared a moment for silent gratitude.

The floor she had once stood on softened beneath her now and she floated softly to the comfort she knew lay below. Angry voices still rang out above her, but she was beyond caring. They had no right to judge her. They knew nothing of the loneliness she had lived with her entire life. They did not have to bear being the Planet's last listening ear when it lived in such pain. Some things she knew with a certainty that flowed in her blood. They would never understand, with all their rules and warnings, the growing urge to reach out for any shred of companionship, affection, no matter where it came from.

She drifted to a quiet place. The angry voices could not reach her. There was nothing to do but enjoy the comfort that emanated from the warm body beside her and listen to the steady breathing till true rest claimed her.

Morning's first sharp rays had not yet pierced the night's blue shell when Aeris woke, but the stars had already fled the approaching dawn. A heavy thigh rested across her legs and an arm was draped across her body, the hand gently cupping a shoulder. She turned her head to the side. Sephiroth was still asleep and his breath fluttered the pale strands that had settled across his face.

Aeris turned to face the sky again and snuggled herself closer to the man. She did not remember descending to earth. She must have fallen asleep in his arms, and how long he had held her aloft, slowly spinning, she could not tell. It must have tired him. She worked one hand free and patted the arm that kept her close to his side.

It could not be wrong, this innocent closeness. She was warm and safe and the Planet was at peace, humming gently in her mind. What its motive was in approving what no one else would, she did not know. She could guess, she was sure, but she did not dare link her suspicions together. She knew her duty as the last Ancient, to dedicate her life to meeting the Planet's needs by any means possible, no matter what hardship it meant to her. There was nothing to do but let it lead her where it would.

She stretched slightly and felt the dampness of the grass where her feet had slipped off the makeshift bed. It was too early for deep thoughts and she was too comfortable to take that road out of blissful ignorance. Later, she thought, later.

Later she would have to be with her friends, and it could not be too much later or they would know she had been gone. Questions would come, then answers that did not quite add up, answers that rang slightly untrue. Strange looks would follow, then more questions, probing holes in the first few answers until the truth was forced out. Then the accusations, the mistrust, the censuring eyes and even sharper vengeance for the man beside her. She could not let him bear the burden of guilt. She was not innocent in this. There would have to be no questions.

She nudged Sephiroth as best she could with her elbow. "Wake up, Sephiroth. The sun's rising."

All she got out of him was a groan.

"Wake up!" She poked him again.

"Hmph." He pulled her in closer to his side and buried his face against her shoulder. Aeris smiled even as she rolled her eyes at him.

"It's morning, lazy. You have to let me go." She prodded him a few more times on the arm. "Better make it sometime soon, too."

Sephiroth did not move. Aeris frowned and wondered if the man had always been this exasperating to wake. "Come on! You have to let go!"

"Mmm." Sephiroth raised his head and slowly opened one eye. "Don't want to." He flopped back comfortably and set about trying to go back to sleep.

Aeris sighed. "Don't be so stubborn, Sephiroth. If I don't get back to the inn soon the others will come looking for me."

This time he opened both eyes, but they held only calm indifference. "Let them come." He stretched himself out and rolled onto his side next to the girl, propping himself up on one elbow to look at her.

"They don't have to find you," he said quietly. "You could come with me." He brushed her hair away from her face and drew his fingers lightly down her cheek. He began to lean closer, but she turned away. "What's wrong?" He nuzzled her hair. "You don't like the idea?"

"You know it would only make things more difficult. For both of us."

Sephiroth stared at her for a while, then rolled onto his back. Aeris heard the soft rush of his breath escaping. When he spoke his voice seemed to rise out from deep inside him. "You're right, of course. It's a shame." He turned over again to hold her gently. "Next to you is the only place I can actually get a good night's sleep."

"What?" Aeris' face twisted with mock anger. "I'm a sleep aid?"

"Oh yes, absolutely, the best around." The man smirked at her with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "You give me beautiful dreams."

"Really," Aeris laughed at the thought. "What were you dreaming about so hard that you didn't want to wake up?" The silver brows seemed to travel such a long way in turning into a thoughtful frown.

"I was …," the man began. "I was dreaming... of being asleep."

Aeris burst into a fit of giggles. "Asleep? You were dreaming of being asleep?" She laughed even harder and Sephiroth had to struggle to hold her still till she calmed down. It was a good thing, he supposed, given how tearful she had been the night before. After a while he began to worry. Every time he thought she was winding down, she would burst out laughing again. Holding her wriggling body against his own was only making things harder.

Eventually she managed to get down to one stifled giggle every few seconds. "So in your dream," she said, still grinning, "was I there to help you sleep?"

He answered cautiously in the affirmative and judiciously decided against telling her about exactly _how_ her dream form had helped his to fall asleep. Instead he rested at her side in silence, soaking in the brightening sky until there was no more shadow to hide the need to move.

The little glade had changed its silvery nightdress for a translucent sheath of gold by the time they finally did rise. Aeris stood patiently on the bare earth beneath a tree while Sephiroth strapped on his armor. Despite her earlier insistence, she was reluctant to leave his side. So many zips and straps and buckles . . . she wondered how he could keep track of them all.

She tiptoed lightly across the soft dampness to reach for Sephiroth's hand just as he finished the last buckle. When her fingers were within reach of his own he twisted his hand deftly to catch her wrist instead. She looked up at him in surprise. His somber expression fluttered her heart and she wondered if he had decided to spirit her away after all.

He shook his head slightly, as if he had heard her thought. "I can't take you with me." Her eyes widened at that and he smiled. "You're barefoot. You'd slow me down." With that he scooped her into his arms and carried her towards the village. "I can't carry you all the time, you know."

"Hey, are you calling me fat?"

His light laughter echoed out of the glade.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Red twitched awake to the sound of the running shower just in time to swing his tail out of the way of Yuffie's feet. The girl yawned and stretched on the little bed.

"Who's in there, Red? Oh, never mind. It's Aeris. Her bed is empty." Yuffie flipped out of the bed for a quick morning bounce around the room. Red slumped back to the floor, half asleep. How the human girl kept it up he had no clue, but she was better than any alarm clock. Within minutes she had poked Tifa to life, kicked Cait Sith and stepped on Cloud, who had spent the night in his sleeping bag in a corner of the room. His croaky howl was enough to wake Barret.

Yuffie sprang over to the bathroom to knock on the door. "Aeris?"

"Mmhmm?" A near-musical hum came through the door.

"Better wrap it up quick in there. The line's going to form any minute."

"I'll be right out," was the reply and true to her word, Aeris emerged just seconds after, dressed, smelling strongly of soap and with both hands busy weaving her hair into its customary twist. Yuffie pretended to scowl.

"How'd you get the bathroom before I did?" She did not wait for an answer.

Aeris walked over to her bed to finish her hair, silent and smiling, locked in a little dream world of her own. Red nuzzled her knees just as she finished the last twist. "Could you let me out, please?" She nodded her assent.

Barret watched the beast slip out the door. "Must be nice to be able to just do your business anywhere," he muttered under his breath. Tifa offered him her spot in the line but he refused.

Cloud sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "There's got to be a better way to get up in the morning."

Aeris returned to her seat, smiling at the scene. She reached under the bed for her boots, growing thoughtful as her fingers closed around the worn, creased leather. She wondered if she could ever tell them what she felt and how well they would take it. Her mind could never rest, it seemed.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_"What's next, Sephiroth?"_ The voice ringing in his head almost made him wince. _"A picnic? Dancing? A sparkling ring?"_ Sephiroth scowled. For once, he actually resented his mother's return. There was more pleasant company to be had.

_"What does it matter to you, Mother?"_ He answered testily.

Mother spoke with an obviously feigned disinterest. _"Nothing at all. I'm only interested in seeing what your next move is. You've done everything but serenade the girl."_

_"You know I can't sing,"_ Sephiroth replied quietly, missing the edge in the last comment.

_"You're a fool,"_ Mother seethed. _"How can you call yourself a man? Instead of taking what you want when it's within your reach you let your course be dictated by the whims of that... that child!"_

Sephiroth sighed heavily. _"When I get what I'm after, I want it to be perfect for her. I don't want her scared and uncomfortable."_

_"When did you ever bother to show such concern for a lover's well-being?"_

The man smirked as he walked. _"I intend to keep her, Mother. I want her coming back for more."_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A suspicious rattling from under the buggy's hood brought Avalanche to an unscheduled halt at the edge of a green forest. The doors swung open and the occupants stumbled out into the midday heat. Some of them sought the shade at the forest's edge. Then men had something else to do.

Cloud raised the hood and stared down at the engine beneath. "Just great." Barret came around to join him in staring the engine down.

"Just what we needed," he grumbled.

Cloud frowned. "I'm usually good with things like this, but with all these computers they put in nowadays . . ." He shook his head.

"Heh, tell me about it."

Yuffie came up, tool kit in hand. "You old guys are hopeless. Move over!" She leaned in and began tinkering over Barret's loud protests.

Tifa grinned and leaned back against a tree. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Aeris seek out a seat as far away from the noise of the group as she could get.

The girl walked slowly and her step wavered as if she were not really paying attention. She really did seem a little out of touch lately, as if she had something heavy on her mind. She settled under a tree, sliding with a near boneless grace to the earth. Tifa envied Aeris' easy elegance for a while. Her own stride was the result of years of training. It was bold and firm and... intimidating. Aeris was the perfect picture of delicate womanhood.

No wonder Cloud couldn't keep his eyes off the flower girl. Tifa let her head thud against the back of the tree and blinked up at the sun. She took a deep breath and held it, then exhaled, letting the little twinge of loss flow out as well. She would not stand in the way, if it made them happy.

The only thing was, Aeris did not seem quite at ease with the whole thing. Tifa could not understand why. Aeris had seemed very interested in Cloud at first. Tifa saw the way she looked at the blond when he was not looking, playing the little game of glances but not moving forward at all. Before she even realized what she was doing, Tifa found herself walking over to the girl.

"Hey," she said.

Aeris jumped a little, startled. "Hi, Tifa."

"Mind if I sit?"

"No, go right ahead." The words spilled out in a nervous rush, all the confirmation Tifa needed that something was up. Tifa did not like dealing with anything potentially uncomfortable, especially when it was none of her business. She did not know if it was better or worse when it did matter to her in some way. Skirting around Cloud's story of Nibelheim had been distressing enough. She did not have Aeris' knack for adequately dealing with other people's sensitive issues, but she had to try. No one could do for Aeris exactly what she did for everyone else. Tifa took another deep breath, steeling herself for the attempt.

"Mind if I say something?" She studied the curiosity that rose on the flower girl's face as she shook her head. "You seem a little... distracted lately," she continued. "Is anything going on?" Aeris' eyes widened so quickly that there was no hiding the answer.

The girl made a small sound and began to play with the edge of her dress. Her fingers twisted the fabric around as she turned a response over in her mind. Her breathing became uncomfortably audible. "Tifa... if I told you that I... like someone... would you be mad at me?"

Tifa felt all the hope fall out of her. One instant and it was gone, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in her heart. Everything she had suspected was true. She swallowed before answering. "Does this someone like you?"

Aeris turned to stare at her feet. "I think so." Tifa forced a smile, though she could feel that it did not touch her eyes.

"Why should I be mad at you then?"

Aeris gave her a weak smile. "I was just worried, you know. I don't want to... hurt anyone else by liking this person."

Tifa shook her head. "If you like each other and you make each other happy, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. No one should get in the way of your happiness, no matter what the reason."

Aeris' smile grew a little wider even as her eyes grew pained. "Thanks, Tifa."

"No problem!" Tifa chirped and stood.

"Oh, please, just... don't tell anyone else about this, okay?" Aeris' voice trembled.

Tifa smiled. "Not a word." She looked over at the buggy.

Yuffie seemed to have patched up the problem. The strange rattling was still there, but not as loud as before. She could not tell what had Barret and Cloud more upset - the fact that their fancy toy was broken or that Yuffie, of all people, had put it back together.

Even with that frown, that glare, Cloud was still so handsome. His messy spikes looked so impossibly golden in the bright light. She would never get the chance to ruffle those spikes now. She walked quietly to the buggy and struggled to keep tears at bay.

* * *

**AN:** IT'S ALIVE! Thank you all so much for waiting, even for this rather short chapter.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter 12**

Yuffie stumbled out onto the dry, barren ground. "Look, I told you, I can fiddle with it, but I can't fix it completely!"

It was evening and the red rock that towered above them blazed with reflected fiery glory, but no one paid it any attention. All they knew was that it was growing late, the buggy had slowed to a painful crawl and they were stuck in the great outdoors for the night.

For the second time that day, Cloud looked under the hood. He scratched his head, confused. Cait Sith hopped over and whistled. "I'm guessing those things aren't supposed to turn red."

Barret was not any happier. "Figures that nut would screw us over and give us a hunk of junk."

Yuffie took another look. "Gawd, this one needs a professional."

"Tell me something I don't know, kid!" Barret thumped his fist on the red machine. Yuffie stamped her foot.

"Hey, it's not like you could do any better than I did!"

Tifa inserted herself between the two. "Come on, you guys. It's nobody's fault. I'm sure you'll be able to patch it up." Cloud sighed.

"It'll have to be tomorrow." He shut the hood. "We don't know what's out here and it's getting dark fast." He slid into his Leader mode, assigning duties and arranging camp. Tifa pulled out the travel rations and began passing them around. There was no brushwood in sight with which to start a fire so it would be a cold meal tonight and a closely huddled camp to discourage predators.

Red bounded over the rocks, running in and out of the lengthening shadows in excitement. Aeris watched him spin around and try to catch his tail. He looked like a frisky young pup, perfectly at home on the expanse of dry red rock. Aeris was amazed at how well he blended in with the surroundings, his fur colored as much like a flame as the rock formations that towered above him. She smiled and turned to grab her pack from the trunk. She had a tent to set up.

Hours later, Aeris lay in the confines of her small tent, nearly stifling in the trapped air. It was not really hot, but uncomfortably thick. It was like breathing peanut butter. She had tossed and turned for so long, had tried every position, every method to slow her thoughts and still had only felt the minutes tick by with maddening slowness. She missed the feel of another presence at her side.

She sat up abruptly, frustrated with herself. How was she supposed to get any rest if her mind refused to be still. She drew deep breaths in the darkness. It was not just her mind. Need rushed through her blood like a raging river. Her skin felt flushed, alive and aching to be touched.

She reached for her boots and staff. Moments later, she crept out of her tent, trusting the Planet to guide her as it had before. A quick whirring sound stopped her just as she was about to slip out of the tight semi-circle of tents arranged at the side of the buggy. She glanced over her shoulder and made a sound of relief. It was only Cait Sith buzzing in the back seat, safely in his dormant mode. Aeris wondered why a machine, even a sentient one, should need rest, but it suited her just fine at the moment.

The rock floor was smooth and level beneath her feet. It sloped upwards in delicate curves to form lofty pillars and platforms. The soaring formations cast pools of inky shadows at their feet. The sky above was nearly starless and the wispy clouds glowed with the pale yellow of a ripening moon.

The girl set off up the broad slope, driven by a certainty that she would find what she searched for if she could only get closer to the sky. The ground was blue in the weak light, where before it had been shades of flame. Purple-tinted ledges hovered above, emerging from the shadows. Aeris was sure that the path into the darkness would lead her to them. She hurried onwards with no clear sense of direction. All she had was the sensation that she was moving slowly upwards, where she needed to be. She turned where the path turned and walked a smooth, straight line despite the trail's deep shade. What she saw faded from her awareness as she opened her senses to every last flickering nuance of the Planet's wishes.

A sudden hissing filled the air, barely covering a rumbling, a groaning, a high pitched growl. Vision flooded back and Aeris spun just in time to see three beasts behind her, short, waddling birds with fiery crests and vicious eyes.

The Planet's will moved her arms before she could think to do it herself. She swung her staff out to land a stunning blow on the closest one. It barely even rocked. The other two backed up but she knew the glittering in their eyes could not be a good thing. She stood her ground. She would have run if not for the burning presence of the Planet inside. She had a purpose and nothing would keep her from it. She lashed out at the closest one again with a two-handed swing, but the blow glanced off and though the thing fell back, it was merely dazed. That was no matter. It would be a long fight, that was all. How dare these vermin stand between her and what she needed?

A signal passed between the beasts and they rose into the air as one. Even from the distance, Aeris saw the ripple in the feathers, tightening muscle that foreshadowed a violent attack. Despite the armor of Planet-rage that she wore, she cringed inside. She shut her eyes tight and held the staff out before her, using weapon as shield for whatever attack the monsters would launch. A loud crashing rent the air, accompanied by shrill, hideous screams. Aeris turned away from the rush of searing heat, whimpering a bit before sending a breathless prayer for the strength to end the fight. The heat faded quickly. All was still.

She opened her eyes, fleetingly grateful that she was unharmed and ready to continue her attack. Where the creatures had hovered was now a filmy cloud of fine ash that rained slowly down to the hard earth. A tall shadow stretched across the night-dyed rock. Aeris' heart fought to break out of her chest at the sight. She spun around to find the source.

He stood bare-chested on a high ledge, at once pale and shiny dark against the backdrop of deep blue sky and purple rock. His eyes glared, fierce green embers on a cold expression. Aeris felt her heart flutter as her breath returned. His anger was not for her, she had to remind herself. It simply could not be. He had saved her. A shining knight, he had come to her rescue.

She frowned.

How dare he? It was not that big a battle. She could have handled it herself, even if not so quickly. Why did everyone think she needed constant protection? He turned before she finished gathering her thoughts.

He leaned against the wall of stone beside him as he pointed out a pathway to the lowest part of the ledge on which he stood. "Come up that way, Aeris." Fresh from battle, simple though it had been for him, his voice was clipped and curt, the tone that of a commanding officer who expected nothing but immediate obedience. Aeris snapped.

"Aren't we confident? What makes you so sure I came out here for you?" She stared defiantly up at him, knowing full well that she was being unreasonable.

A silver brow rose slowly to an arch as the sharply angled face tilted down. "Who else do you think you would find out here?" He turned and began to walk away. Aeris started after him, using her staff for extra support along the path he had indicated. It lay deeply in shadow and even with her weapon planted firmly beside her, she lost her footing several times, momentary slides on loose rock. Sephiroth made no effort to help her. He stood at the end of the outcrop, a few feet ahead and above her, and wordlessly watched her progress. Aeris stormed on, growing more irritated with each step. She half-considered turning around and heading back to camp.

She slipped again on her next step, but maintained her balance. The path narrowed to a fine point and she could see no way to get up to the ledge where the warrior stood. It was only a few feet above her head. She could climb it. She raised her staff to slide it up onto the shelf of rock before her. Now Sephiroth did move. He sank to his knees and lifted the metal rod out of her hands. Surprised, Aeris simply stood where she was and looked up at the man as he hefted the staff in his hand. He studied the dark rod, ran a hand from the slender center to one thick end and looked down at her with a worried frown.

"Are you sure this isn't too heavy for you?" His voice was softer now, the way she liked it. Calmed now by his concern, she shook her head.

"It's pretty new and I'm still getting used to it, but it's not that heavy." She began to climb. Sephiroth looked on in interest and she found the look oddly disquieting. She had only stepped onto the first higher foothold when he set the staff down beside him and reached for her.

She took his arm without a word. His large hand closed about her slender wrist as her own hand struggled to return the grip. In a move of deceptive smoothness, he rose to his feet and pulled her up along with him. The thin skin of her wrist protested his tight grasp, but he was careful not to let her be scraped against the rock. He set her down so gently that she scarcely felt the ground beneath her feet before he let her go. He bent to pick up the staff as she caught her breath.

He smiled a little as he offered it back to her, guessing at the root of her temper. She met his eyes with a questioning look, with her hands so close to his along the length of the rod. He leaned in closer and white wisps of hair brushed her cheeks.

"If I'd known you liked midnight battles I would have taken a seat and cheered you on. I was worried for you, that was all." He pressed the staff into her hands more firmly. Aeris smiled sheepishly.

"Am I really as bad a fighter as everyone says?"

Sephiroth weighed his answer. Truthfully, her technique was terrible. If she had been a trooper she would have been drummed out of the corps if something on the training field had not eaten her alive first. His silence lasted a moment too long. She hung her head. The dark could not hide the reddening skin behind the curtain of dark hair. Here was something he had not quite suspected. Something like pity stirred in him, as it never had for anyone under his command. She was no soldier and should not have to act as one.

He reached out and brushed the soft hair back from her face. He cupped her cheek gently in one hand and tilted her head back up. Her eyes shone with a beautiful brightness but her quivering lips betrayed the cause. She wrenched her face out of his grasp, unable to meet his eyes. He pulled her closer, unwilling to let her step away from him. He wrapped his arms around her and felt the restrained tension in her body.

"There now," he whispered as he set his chin on her head, knowing the words were meaningless. "You do just fine for a civilian" She had no training or experience as the rest of her friends did. He knew that much from the blond boy's head. She was fairly weak, certainly, but not unwilling to do her share of defending the group. She hiked and climbed well enough that she was not a burden. It was a shame she overlooked her own great gift.

Aeris rubbed her cheek against his skin. There were no streaming tears tonight, but there was dampness on her lashes and her breath did hitch a bit. Briefly, Sephiroth wondered if it was something about the lack of sunshine that predisposed her to tears. She smiled up at him. "Think you could train me?"

He had to hold his words back for a while. Her innocent question had brought some enticing images to mind. He would have to watch himself closely tonight or he would run her off for good. "Think you could handle my training?" he asked and mentally slapped himself to drive out the thought of restraints and blindfolds.

He stepped away from her, partly to get a grip on himself and partly to avoid alerting her to the fact that his lower instincts were trying to take over. "You're holding the staff a bit strangely." He attempted to fill the space between them with words, to herd his mind to some kind of order. "That's why I thought it was too heavy for you."

He pulled her to the center of the broad rock ledge and slid behind her. His arms circled her body as he took the weight of the staff from her. He guided her limp hands to the right positions. The moment drifted in his consciousness, the image of her tiny hand beneath his own, gliding smoothly along the length of the shaft, the way her grip tightened at just the right spot.

He had to step away again and remind himself to breathe. He walked around the girl and studied her form intently, telling himself all the while that he was only checking her stance. He did not know how long he stood before her, simply staring. Her look of open curiosity brought him back to the present. He gave her a small smile to cover his lapse. "You would be able to swing with more force if you balanced yourself better. Try widening your stance a bit."

Aeris' eyes widened at that. "My dress is too narrow," she protested.

"Then you should get a shorter skirt." The words flew out before he could stop them. Aeris planted her staff firmly into the ground and leaned on it heavily as she shot the man a look he could not decipher. At least she did not seem about to swing at him.

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" Her words were slow and calculated. Sephiroth fleetingly looked askance out of guilt, a reflex no one else could bring out of him, but when he met her eyes again, his expression was one of sly amusement. He was surprised to see the same thing on her face. She exaggeratedly rolled her eyes heavenward. "Hm! Men!" Then she frowned and glanced upwards. "Do you smell smoke?"

Sephiroth gave her the closest thing to a goofy grin she had ever seen on him. "It's only the birds. I did flash-fry them after all." Aeris remained unconvinced.

"Sephiroth, something's really burning!"

Realization dawned. "Oh, sweet Shiva!" The SOLDIER turned and ran towards the rock wall, silvery hair a swift swirl from the force of his spin. Aeris ran after him as fast as she was able but he disappeared around the corner of the rock wall before she could catch up. The smell of smoke was powerful, so the source could not be too far away.

She saw that the wall of stone that rose high above the outcrop was more of a thick pillar than a wall, as she got closer. The ledge wrapped around it, very narrow at the closest point, but passable. She ran around as fast as she could, right into a cloud of heavy grey smoke. It was thick but she could see through it to where Sephiroth knelt on the ground. He was busy fanning the source in an attempt to blow off most of the smoke.

"Oh, enough of this," he grumbled and flung his arm up towards the open sky. The dark swirls coalesced in the air, assembled into order, then shot out in a straight line out of the rocky alcove. Aeris watched the filmy, grey dance within the stream and had to wonder how far the man's control of matter went. She had never tried anything like that herself, had not thought it possible.

The smoke fluttered in fine patterns despite it's confinement and Aeris felt the urge to let her own skill leap forth. She had always been subtle, sparing with her own ability because it might have drawn too much attention down beneath Midgar's plate. Here there were no suspicious eyes. There was just the one gaze that had only ever admired her. Would he cheer her on for this?

She supposed he would but he was occupied at the moment. With the smoke pouring itself out of the way, he had turned his attention to a low, flat rock. There was something on it, a dark slab that was still the source of thin tendrils of smoke and a rather fragrant steam. Sephiroth frowned at the slab, then looked mournfully over his shoulder at Aeris. "I'm sorry, honey. I burned dinner."

Aeris was incredulous. "You cooked?"

The man turned back to the dark slab on the cooling rock. "I tried." He sighed heavily and sat down beside his makeshift grill. His leather coat was draped over a large rock beside him and he offered the spot to Aeris with a small wave of his hand. She took the seat, noting that it left her in the perfect position to cradle his head in her lap. Almost as soon as she thought it, he rested his cheek against her thigh and tilted his head back to see her. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I really wanted you to have a hot meal."

"It's ok." The girl ran a hand through the fine strands of silver hair and smiled. "It's sweet that you tried and I'm not really hungry anyway." It was not longing for food that had driven her out of her tent, after all. She looked away for a while, lost in thought. She had no clue where to begin getting what she had come out for. She studied the wide plain below her, saw the faint, far-away line where the smooth rock became green field and wondered how long it would take to arrive there.

Sephiroth made a frustrated sound and brought a welcome break in Aeris' train of thought. She dared not think too far ahead these days, afraid that if she put too many pieces together, looked too far beyond the present, she would not like the picture. She turned to find him half-heartedly waving the last of the smoke off the piece of blackened meat.

"Sephiroth, what is it?" she asked.

"What's what now?"

She rubbed his shoulder. "The meat. What kind is it?"

The man turned and studied her curiously for a while. There was a trace of worry on his brow when he spoke. "Promise not to scream if I tell you?" Now the worry was on Aeris' face, but she nodded anyway. Sephiroth took a breath. "Those birds that attacked you? This is one I hunted down earlier. Well, part of it anyway." Aeris' eyes widened at the admission.

"You can eat them? I mean, is it safe?"

Sephiroth nodded. "They're fine, once they're properly cooked." He looked at his own pitiful attempt at the matter again. His shoulders slumped without his knowing it. So much for romantic dinner plans. Granted, wild meat eaten while seated on a rock was hardly a five-star experience, but under the conditions one had to make do.

Gods, but he was a fool.

"I'm a fool," he said.

Aeris looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

The man slumped forward to set one cheek on his knees. "I can't cook. I shouldn't have tried." Aeris tried not to laugh since he seemed so miserable but she could not keep the lilt from her voice.

"You mean there's actually something the Great SOLDIER can't do?"

"There are many things I can't do." Sephiroth grinned ruefully. "I make it a point not to try them too often so nobody finds out."

"Ah," Aeris nodded sagely. "So, now that I know you can't cook, are you going to silence me?"

Green, gleaming eyes grew sly. "Depends. Are you planning on telling anyone?"

Aeris returned the look with an impish smile of her own. "I could say 'no' just so you would let me go."

"That leaves me two choices. I could come after you with the first peep I heard of it from anyone other than you, or . . ." Sephiroth shifted forward, setting his weight on toes. "I could silence those lips right now."

He sprang forward and caught her lips in a quick kiss. A thrill went through him at her little cry of surprise and he placed one hand against the small of her back both to steady himself and keep her close. Aeris returned the kiss eagerly, but ended it before it became anything more than playful. She leaned back against the swordsman's strong arm. Sephiroth smiled at the dreamy expression on her face and wondered if she would look the same when she lay bare between the sheets.

The look faded too soon for him, but the way she looked at him was pleasing enough. She reached out with both hands and gently stroked his face. Sephiroth sighed with the gentle pleasure of having her fingers flow over his skin. Her hands slid down his throat and under the heavy mass of his hair. He felt his heart flutter at the feel of her hands on the nape of his neck and her lovely fingers twirled in his hair.

"Sephiroth?" Her voice was like music.

"Yes?" His response was tender, his voice nearly lost in the wind.

"How did you cook the meat with no fire?"

The man blinked. Of all the times for her curiosity to become evident... Laughter shook his shoulders and he shook his head. "Oh, you... I set a fire spell on the rock to heat it up."

She leaned her head past his shoulder to study the rock. "You can do that? Wouldn't a spell that strong break the rock?"

Sephiroth leaned back, once again her patient teacher. It was amazing how rudimentary most people's grasp of materia was. "I set the heat of my fire spell. Most people are only able to attain extremes of a certain materia, either very weak spells or very strong ones, so they can't do that."

"I was wondering how you got rid of the smoke. There's no materia to do that, is there?"

He grinned again at her. "I don't mean to brag, but I barely even need materia. I find it too restrictive." He told her of the things he had discovered, things that few were able to do. He knew nobody else who could choose the intensity and direction of even the strongest, most destructive spells, or use just the smallest bit of power to direct near-intangible things like smoke, or water. He had an unmatched fine control of magic and did not even need the glowing orbs he carried to achieve it.

Aeris was so attentive through all his talk, eyes narrowed in concentration as she took it in. The urge to stretch her own skill surged again. She knew her magic was strong. She was an Ancient and the power contained in hard, cold materia was alive in her. Why should he be the only one to do such amazing things? She slid off the rock to take Sephiroth's hands. "Teach me how! Please, show me how! I know I can learn, I know it!"

Sephiroth stared at her in surprise. He could hardly turn her down. She was so eager and she had a magnificent, untapped power of her own. If anyone else could learn the subtleties of magic that he had, it would be her. It would be nice to have someone like that close by. It fit perfectly with the plan. He got to his knees and raised her up with him.

He could feel her pulse rushing with excitement as he instructed her to set her staff far away and slow her mind. She wanted to try heating the rock herself and he indulged her. "Careful now," he whispered. "Pick your target, a very small area and let the power just flow." Her brow furrowed in concentration, but the trickle of magic was too weak. It would only be a typical novice's spell, nothing strong enough to heat rock if she did not loosen up. "Let it flow. Just a little less control." Sephiroth set his hands about her waist and gently massaged the muscles of her lower back.

She was not prepared for that and all at once a flame burst out between them, bright and fierce. It hung in midair, burning with no source. Sephiroth was flung back, speechless. Aeris was ecstatic.

"I did it! Oh Planet, I really did it! I made fire!" She bounced up and down gleefully, watching her flare with pride.

Sephiroth recovered his voice. "How are you... that's... it has no fuel! How are you doing that?" Aeris' eyes glowed in the reflection of her hovering blaze.

"I'm not sure. It just came to me, how to... release. I made fire! I made fire! Sephiroth, I made fire!"

The man sat up, looking lost. No flare of his had ever burned of its own accord. Fire needed something to burn. His flames might begin in the air, but they all shot immediately for the closest object if he did not direct them carefully. He caught the girl's eyes, meeting her excitement with his own wonder. "I can't do that. I can't keep fire burning in midair."

The smile that gave him was beautiful and bright. "Let me be the teacher this time, then," she said. With a small gesture from her, the flame shrank and went out. She reached out and took the swordsman's hands in her own, much as he had done before. As soon as her skin touched his own, he could sense something different.

It was if she had reached out to him with more than her body. There were rushes, lightning fast flashes beneath the surface of his consciousness. He lost sight of the physical link between them, finding himself in a flowing stream of thought. The colors, the very patterns of the whorls were unfamiliar, but soothing. They were hers, myriad streams of thought that he could not even begin to see. She was like him, strange and different, but they were not the same. He could not begin to see through the eddies in her mind and did not want to. It was what she was, and that was sacred. The deepest mysteries were for no mere initiate.

"_This way_," her voice echoed in his mind. The knowledge flowed around him and he _saw_. Some currents he recognized, some he did not. That was how one made a flame, he knew, but _this_ was how one contained it, controlled it. So much poured out from her that he could barely even touch the half of it. He almost feared being lost in the flood. He wondered how much she knew, how much she still had hidden from herself behind the dam in her mind. He had thought he would be her instructor, coaxing her talents to flow freely. Not so at all, he saw now. He would have to put a crack in the wall and jump out of the way.

_"Like this!"_ Now she was insistent and he drew his mind to the task at hand -create a flame, let it burn and hold it, hold it... just hold it. A blaze broke out, one of both their making, and it stayed where it was. She did it so easily, lifted him up, supported his own tenuous hold on the little glow between them. A blissful calm ran through him, that he could be so close to her, without the walls her mind put up for protection when she slept.

_"You hold it now."_ He had not expected that. He felt the stream around him run dry as she pulled her mind away. He struggled to breach the gap, forced his mind to control the flame as she had showed him. The outer world of rock and sky became real to him once more and he saw how the small flame between them flickered with the transition. He had done such things before. He could make water fly and control the tiniest particles of air. He had mastered fluidity at the smallest level

But this was fire. It was not solid in any way, had no form to grasp. It trembled violently under his control. "Steady now," Aeris' voice was firmer than he had ever heard it before. "Just like I showed you." Sephiroth felt uncomfortably damp from the effort. A drop of liquid trailed down from behind his ear, slowly at first, but it picked up speed as it rushed to the curve where neck became shoulder. His mind slipped and he lost his grip on the flame. In an effort to save itself, the fire rushed to the closest object – Sephiroth's hair.

"Great," the man grumbled. "Just great!"

"Sephiroth, you're on fire!" Aeris shrieked and tried to fan his hair out. "Drop and roll, man! Do something!" Sephiroth was too busy frowning up at his fiery bangs, more upset at failing his assignment than the fact that flames were dancing on his head.

The fanning was not working and Aeris could not understand why the man just sat there. Her gift, freshly awakened, flowed through and before she even thought about what she was doing, she hit him with the strongest blast of ice that she had ever been able to bring forth.

It did put the fire out, but at such a close range, it nearly put him out too. He skated backwards from the force of the blow and his shoulders hit the stone floor with a loud smack. Silver hair drifted slowly down to cover his face and he lay very still.

"Oh no!" Aeris covered her lips, afraid. She leaned forward in a stiff, rocking motion, too terrified to get closer. "Oh no, oh no, oh, please, no! Please, don't be dead! Say you're not dead!"

"I'm not dead." His voice was hoarse.

Aeris rushed to his side. "Are you sure?" She checked his pulse with one hand and with the other, brushed the hair out of his eyes. The stern look she found beneath his bangs made her sit back.

He grimaced as he sat up. "Dead people don't hurt like this."

"I'm so sorry!" Aeris' apologized again. "You were on fire! Oh, your hair, your beautiful hair! I was afraid for it! I thought you'd burn up!"

The warrior shook his head. He had not realized she had worried that much. "It's alright." He brought a thick lock of silky hair forward and showed it to her. It was healthy and shiny, just as it had always been. "I'm fire-proof, see?" He studied her pose. She knelt beside him with her hands clasped in her lap, her knuckles white. He reached out to stroke her hands. She had only meant to help, after all. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

When Aeris' chest heaved with a sigh of relief, Sephiroth actually grew thankful for the icy blast. From where he lay, the view was wonderful. Her skirt was open far enough to expose a magnificent amount of thigh. He lightly touched the pale skin and the girl gave a breathy gasp at the contact.

She sat very still and let him run his hand where he would. This was what she had come for. She had thought that he would go about taking it from the very first instant. She did not know how to go about offering it herself. Sephiroth pushed back the folds of her dress to better reach her thighs. Aeris could not help crying out as he massaged her flesh. He was gentle, always gentle with her. The girl felt her heart start to race again.

Her breath grew heavy as the man bent low to kiss her skin. She watched, fascinated at the way his pale hair draped across her legs. Her mouth flew open in surprise when she felt his tongue trailing up her leg. He buried his face against her body and nipped at her through the thin fabric.

Aeris leaned back on her hands and closed her eyes, unable to bear watching his movement any longer. She trembled from the sensation and a moan rose from deep inside her. He worked his way up her slender form and Aeris let herself slide slowly to the cold stone. It was wonderful, the way he touched her, kissed her, the way he looked into her eyes. She had come for this, ready to share herself with him if he so desired. What did it matter if the ground was hard and that there were pebbles grinding into her back?

She was torn. Something was not right. She had come for this, she told herself, as the swordsman nuzzled her throat. His hair felt so wonderful as it trailed over her collarbone. The weight of his body was so comforting. His hands were strong and gentle. The way he whispered her name made her shiver with delight. He claimed her lips with a deep kiss then and she reveled in the taste of him. She could have lost herself in it, but he broke it off suddenly and hovered over her.

She opened her eyes to look up at him. His hair was a silver curtain around her face, but the soft yellow glow of the moon still shone through the locks to light his brow. His lips hung open, reddened from kissing. They were both breathless; his chest heaved with the same rhythm as hers. His eyes glowed with a near golden tinge. There was a silent question there, but she did not know what her answer would be. She had been so sure a moment ago, so sure. She tilted her head back, unable to meet that pleading gaze with only indecision. The moon hung directly overhead, pale and full.

No, not full. Almost, but not quite. There was a tiny sliver missing, enough to keep it from being the perfect circle of a truly full moon. Soon, it would be full, but not tonight. Aeris did not even know how her brow furrowed as she noticed that little detail. She only thought it odd that she would see something like that while her pulse raced and her body throbbed with desire for the man who held her. She wanted him, but still, something was not right. The silence stretched out till familiar doubt and unease began to swim alongside the desire in her blood.

Sephiroth saw the look that flitted across her face and immediately forced his own needs aside. She was still unsure. It was easy enough to tell. He looked around at the little rocky alcove. He wanted everything to be perfect when he claimed her and a rough coupling on a cold, stone surface was hardly that. To an inexperienced young girl, perfect was silk sheets and rose petals. He laughed inside. One had to make do, after all, and that kind of idealized romanticism was not exactly within his ability to provide. He would settle for at least having her on something soft. He leaned in, ready to kiss her again, chastely.

"Sephiroth?"

He stopped an inch shy of her lips. "What is it?" He was prepared for her reply. He knew this was not the best place.

"I'm thirsty."

He had not expected that. It was even further evidence of what a bad host he was. How could he have thought of feeding her without providing a cool drink? He really was a fool. "I don't have anything." He took his weight off her and sat back on his heels to help her up. "I'm sorry." She gave him a small smile as she took his hand.

"I figured." She got to her feet, dusted herself off and went to retrieve her staff. "There's nothing around here is there?" Her expression did not change when he shook his head. She had expected as much. "I'll have to go back to camp then." She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you for tonight. It was . . ." He raised an eyebrow as he waited for her answer and she laughed when she saw it. "It was something." Sephiroth could only nod in agreement.

Then a thought hit him.

She was going back to camp. She had a little tent of her own there, and a sleeping bag. The hideous red vehicle the blond puppet had managed to acquire had a backseat. There were possibilities . . .

He went over to pull his coat on, momentarily inspired. He did not trouble himself to secure all the straps and buckles. Why bother if he was going to have to undo them all again? He smiled as he took the girl's hand in his own to lead her back the way she had come.

They both walked lightly as they neared the camp. Sephiroth knew that the puppet was sound asleep, but he could not be sure about the rest. Aeris found the half-ring of tents just as she had left it.

"That one's mine." She pointed to the one in the center. Sephiroth had to give his blond puppet some credit. It would take some sneaking to get past the other tents. Wordlessly, they walked past the buggy. A whirring sound caught his attention. Ever ready for attack, he spun around to intercept.

Aeris tugged at his arm. "It's only Cait Sith in the backseat. He's a... some kind of machine. A toysaurus!"

Sephiroth took that in quietly. So the backseat of the buggy was out. The tent was a tight fit, he remembered, but there would be enough space. They would have to be quiet though, very quiet. He watched Aeris bend over to get the zipper of the tent. She really needed someone to tell her that it was better to bend at the knee, but he enjoyed the view too much to be that someone. She rose slowly so the zipper would not make too much noise. "Come on." Sephiroth was only too eager to follow her inside.

The tent was exactly as he remembered it – small and cramped. He kept his head bowed even though there was no need, worried that he would brush against a support pole and bring the whole thing down if he sat up straight. The tent was barely long enough for him to get the masamune in.

Aeris rooted around in her pack for her canteen. She must have been thoroughly parched by the time she found it, but still, she offered it to Sephiroth first. He refused with a gentle push and a shake of his head. "I don't drink, Aeris. Don't worry about me."

She wasted no time in wetting her lips, though she knit her brows at him as she swallowed. "You don't sleep, you don't drink... you don't eat either?"

"It's true. I need nothing like that." Sephiroth knew it was strange.

Aeris capped the little bottle tightly. "Were you always like that?" She asked as she removed her boots.

The man shook his head. "Not always. I've only been like this for a few years." Sleep had been the first thing to go and he told her so as she settled onto her sleeping bag.

It had been a gradual thing. First there had been restlessness and tossing in the night. As a teenager he was able to function on only a few hours rest a night. By the time the Great Meaningless war was over, try as he might, he found himself unable to sleep for days at a stretch. Battle fatigue, the psychiatrists had said. One night came back to him vividly, a quiet night in his apartment, when he sat with a book and some music for company. He remembered how the book slipped from his grasp when the realization hit him, that he had not slept at all for the better part of a year.

His appetite diminished considerably during his last few years in Shinra. Exactly when he had become a wholly self-sufficient machine, he did not know. All this he told her, while he rubbed her feet in an attempt to keep his hands busy. She had pretty toes, he noted. He looked up to tell her so but her eyes were already closed. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, even measure.

Sephiroth smiled ruefully in the dark and stretched out beside her. He kept his face close to hers. She must have been tired after all the exertion the night had brought. The soldier had never thought that any part of his life would make a good bedtime story, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. A contented smiled graced his face. He may have finally achieved the perfection Shinra had always wanted in its living weapon, but next to this frail girl he was no weapon. He felt a simple joy in being alive. He put an arm around Aeris to enjoy her warmth, telling himself it would be for just a little while, just a little while...

* * *

**A/N:** Quickest update ever. Don't expect a repeat performance. :P I've never written a chapter this fast, so if anything or anyone seems a little odd and out of place, let me know. Thank you again, all of you.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Thirteen**

_"WAKE UP!"_

Pain raged forth from a place deep inside Sephiroth's mind. He blinked blind eyes and gasped for air. Pain, there was so much of it he could not think, could only feel his heart tightening sharply in his chest as Mother battered his consciousness. A lesson his body had learned in childhood took over. He forced himself to breathe deeply. It cleared his mind as much as was possible but any chance of returning to sweet dreams was gone.

He sat up in the near darkness to let the blurriness subside. The early morning air hit him, cold and sharp where he had lost contact with the warm, young woman at his side. He looked down at her, though he struggled to keep his eyes open through the throbbing in his head. She was so calm in her sleep, pink and pale in the weak light. Sephiroth almost whimpered. So much pain, there was so much, and he did not want to leave, though he knew he had to. The sun would rise soon, he could feel it, and Mother was only doing what any caring parent would. He leaned down towards the sleeping angel, intent on giving her a parting kiss.

_"LEAVE NOW!"_

The pain was red-hot inside and it spread through his body like lightning. No time for a kiss, then. He had to go or he would certainly die from the strain. He blindly reached for the hilt of his sword as he crawled towards the opening of the tent. Stiff fingers fumbled with the zipper. The man did not even hear it open. The hammering inside his skull was too intense. Mother was not sparing in her discipline.

The pain diminished by half when he managed to crawl out of the tent. It was easier to breathe there, outside, though the hard ground loomed perilously close. Sephiroth could feel sharp flint beneath his fingers but the sensation was dull. Getting out of the small camp was his first priority. What would happen to him if the puppet caught him in there was nothing next to keeping Mother happy. When Mother was angry, she made him suffer. She beat at the edges of his mind till he was near unconscious and burned his blood till he regretted his birth as much as she seemed to. Strife would only kill him.

He shuffled along, grasping at whatever was nearby for support. That flimsy thing that shook in his hands, that was a tent. He let go and stumbled away, fearful that he would bring the thing down and wake its occupant. He bumped against something solid and cold. It must have been the buggy, but all Sephiroth could see was a red blob. He felt his way shakily along the vehicle's side. There had to be a space at the end. There was a whirring sound nearby. It took him a while to reach through the fog in his mind for Aeris' words about some machine in the back seat.

He knocked his foot against something and had to swallow a gasp of alarm when it moved with the impact. Instead he snorted in disdain. It figured that the last tent would be a literal stumbling block in his way. All he wanted to do was get out. He made the last step through the blurry shapes before him.

The pain subsided immediately. What was left of it flickered like a weak flame in his mind. He turned to take one last blurry look at the tent he had spent the night in, wistful for the promise of a sweet morning, left unfulfilled. He would have liked to have at least made sure that the covers were over Aeris properly. Now she would wake up cold, alone. Even as he thought it, the pressure in his skull grew. No time for such thoughts, none at all. He turned away, regretting that he could not even be sorry for leaving so quickly.

The red rock rippled before his eyes, but he knew it was only from the pain. He fought to keep his balance, to walk in a straight line. With each step he took, the throbbing decreased. He wondered briefly how far away he would have to go for it to vanish completely. He kept shuffling along, half-blind in the growing light. Shadows flickered in the corner of his eye, dark creatures that struggled for life under the conquering sun. He kept his mind on the scuffing sound his boots made as he walked. Where he ended up did not matter.

Eventually, he became aware that what he felt was no longer pain, only the bone-deep weariness that came from fighting it. Tension trailed down his neck, far down his spine and radiated outward. It was quite a headache Mother had made for him, if it could make his knees hurt. He made an amused sound at the thought. Here he was, half-blind, half-deaf and grey-haired. Any minute now his joints would stiffen up and begin to creak. In fact, there was a groan now.

Only it was not a groan, but a growl, and it was not from him but ahead of him. Sephiroth tensed and blinked, then waited for the blurry shapes before him to come into focus. His hand went to the hilt of his sword even though all he could see were fuzzy, red boulders. The smears of color flowed downwards and coagulated into solid forms. One of the boulders was not a boulder. It was a snarling, red animal with one bright yellow eye.

"What are you doing here?" The beast snarled. Sephiroth sneered.

"I think it would be obvious," he said coldly. "I'm walking." He was amazed that his voice sounded stronger than he felt. He let his hand rest lightly on his sword. Whether he was in pain or not, this animal was no challenge.

Sephiroth adjusted his stance with a fluid subtlety, ready to swing in an instant. The beast growled. It was a deep-throated sound, harsh and menacing. The swordsman watched for the telltale ripple of fur, the coiling muscle that signaled attack. It did not come. The animal had only one eye, but it seemed to know how to use it. It watched and made no sudden moves.

Ordinarily, Sephiroth would have loved this game of waiting, the watching, the feel of blood waking, rising to sing with the glory of the coming fight, but today, it was just not to be. He had other things on his mind. Like Aeris. The red animal was _her_ friend. Injuring it was out of the question. There were many methods to get an enemy out of the way without causing harm. Sephiroth liked to think he knew them all. He drew himself up straight and let his hand fall from his sword. Let the beast see that he did not intend to attack. He smiled with dark malice as the animal stepped back in uncertainty.

It growled again, but quietly. "I won't let you pass!"

Sephiroth laughed. "So much concern over where I'm going, what I'm doing here." He paused when he finally got his laughter under control. He took a deep breath as he narrowed his eyes at the red animal. "Don't you wonder where I've been?"

There was dark pleasure in watching the beast's yellow eye light up with realization. Shock became quick, angry horror. Sephiroth was amazed, amused that he could read such reactions on a face that was not human. He began to laugh again, hard and long. He felt the breeze as the animal rushed past him, but it did not matter. He had no intention of stopping it.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris reached out languorously to the dream that lay beside her and woke to a cold reality. Her hand found only emptiness. She sat up quickly and looked around, but the one she sought was not there. The revelation hit her like ice water.

She was alone.

He had never let her wake up alone before. But then, he had never slept in her tent before either. Who knew what the others would do to him if he were caught, in her arms, no less? Aeris shook violently and could not tell if it was a shudder or just a shiver in the cool morning. She looked at the space beside her, at the thin fabric with wrinkles pressed flat by the weight of a dream. A slow sadness unfurled from deep inside her and all around her. She smiled then, and patted the ground at her side, more to thank than to comfort the Great Mother who mourned with her.

"Wake up! Everybody! Are you alive in there?" Red's voice, it was Red's voice and there was so much anxiety. The worry nearly threw Aeris to the ground. Other voices joined his, babbling and complaining. The rest of the group was waking up. The girl struggled to make sense of their words.

Yuffie was the loudest. "What's going on?"

"You're okay! Sephiroth was here! I went for a run and met him when I was coming back!"

"What in the hell?" Barret yelled, his voice hoarse from sleep. Aeris heard Yuffie echo the gruff man's sentiment, felt a wash of concern from Tifa. The Ancient reached for her boots. She was still struggling with them when she heard Cloud speak.

"Are you sure he was here?"

Red's answer was harsh. "His stink is all over the camp. Over here." Aeris could hear the soft thump of his feet as he walked. "Over here too. He had his hands all over the buggy."

"That bastard!" Cloud growled. "Did he touch anything else? Is everyone alright?" Aeris felt her heart thud the very moment Tifa spoke.

"Where's Aeris? Oh gods, where is she?"

Aeris froze. What could she do? If Red could smell Sephiroth out there, what would her tent be like? She heard the footsteps get closer. "I'm alright!" She called out before she could stop herself. She reached for her canteen to splash some water on her skin. Maybe she could rinse his scent from her body.

"Are you decent?" Tifa asked. Aeris looked down at herself. She was breathing hard and she could feel that her hair was a mess. Her skin was still damp from the water she had splashed on herself and the front of her dress was soaking wet.

"I will be in a minute," she said, thinking fast. "What's the fuss about? Is someone hurt?"

"Red says Sephiroth passed through our camp. He didn't take anything or hurt anybody, but he was here."

"Sephiroth?" The squeak in Aeris' voice was real, if not for the reason the rest would have thought it. She forced down the guilt and tried to block out all the voices. Tifa's words faded to a murmur, one ripple in the pool of her awareness. Aeris did not want sound, or people. She wanted air.

The air inside the tent had a shape, a tent shape. Aeris focused on that shape until she could feel it. Then she could see it, translucent and shimmering. It was not quite as distinct as she had imagined. The planes of the prism of air were blurry. The tent was not a perfect container. She would have suffocated in the night if it was. The air inside leaked out slowly through the pores in the fabric, and the air that was outside leaked in. Sephiroth's scent, the ghostly remnant of man, steel and leather was in the air. It was fortunate that he himself had shown her what she needed to do.

She gathered her will. The air became a tangible thing and she _pushed_. The shimmering prism lost its shape as it was forced up out of the minute spaces between the threads. Aeris saw a glimmering cloud form above the confines of her tent. It hovered for a moment, then was dispersed by the winds. Any evidence of her guilt was gone. The power blazed through her, intense and invigorating. Who could have guessed that there was as much joy in directing the currents as there was in drifting along with them? No wonder Sephiroth seemed to use his ability every chance he got. So much feeling . . .Aeris flushed at the thought and grinned as she opened her eyes to human sight, ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

There was no air for her to breathe. She could not sigh or scream. She realized too late that she had been so intent on forcing the air up and out of the tent that she had not allowed any in. Her vision returned to her in time to show the fabric walls buckling in on her. The tent collapsed.

"Aeris!" So many voices called her name. She kicked reflexively. The action was enough to let some air in through the cloth. Aeris took the breath she had been starving for. She heard the zipper open and a pair of hands reached in for her. It was Cloud who pulled her out.

"Are you okay?" He held her close to him as she steadied herself. Aeris considered the question carefully. She paid no attention to where she was, whose arms held her or whose eyes saw. She could breathe now. She giggled a little and took a look around. Red was behind Cloud and he only stared up at her curiously, nothing more.

"Wow, Aeris," Yuffie kicked the pegs of the fallen tent. "Talk about lousy survival skills. You can't even put a tent up properly." Aeris turned in Cloud's loose grip to see the ninja and Barret pull the lumpy canvas upright.

"The damn thing wouldn't collapse like that if the supports were any good," Barret grumbled. "Cheap-ass piece of crap. Falling down all over the place." He grunted. "Any one of us might be next." Aeris giggled some more as she freed herself from a grasp she barely felt. She was too giddy with the morning's efforts to notice the sadness in someone's dark eyes.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A tall figure dragged himself across the stony plain. The sun blazed overhead and set a fire on the man's skin to replace the one that faded from his veins. Sephiroth straightened and stared all around. He took it all in, the brightness of the light, the expanse of rock, the distance he had yet to go to reach the closest cliff for some shelter from the sun. Under any other circumstances it would not have mattered, but he was weary from dealing with Mother's punishment.

_'It's for your own good and you know it!'_

Sephiroth winced at the intruding thoughts. "You didn't have to be so rough, you know."

Mother nearly snorted. _'Would you have woken up for anything less? A little while longer and one of those vermin would have caught you. The puppet probably would have cut off your head.' _She lowered her voice. _'Both your heads, considering where you lay.'_

Sephiroth's mouth twisted and his eyes opened wide. He did not know which was worse, the possibility of being 'disarmed' or hearing such frank talk from Mother. Either way, it made his blood crawl.

_"Really, Sephiroth, I must wonder what you're thinking with these days, taking such risks. The child can't be worth all this trouble no matter what power she possesses."_ Sephiroth kept walking towards the cliff and did not answer. Mother seized on his silence with delicately clawed words. _"It's more than her power, isn't it?" _

The man made a sound of muffled outrage and hastened his march towards the rock. "It's always been more than that and you know it! I want her body. I don't care what you think about it! I'm a man and I will get what I want!"

_"So **this** is how you go about claiming what you desire?"_ Mother raged. _"With flowers and . . . and love notes and **DINNER**? You're acting more like an infatuated teenager than a man!"_

Sephiroth paused when he heard her tone. He weighed her words for a long while. Then he burst out laughing. Mother was raving, _ranting _over his pitiful attempts at romance. "Oh, Mother," the man grinned as he seated himself on a rock to catch his breath. "Why are my sorry efforts bothering you so much? I'm not half as worried." He leaned back on his hands to let the glorious sun light his face. "Last night's little disaster notwithstanding, I think it's going quite well."

Normally Mother would have blasted his skull with pain for taking such a flippant tone with her, but the morning's battle of wills seemed to have exhausted even her great reserves. Sephiroth had never known her to intrude at all when Aeris was present and had surmised that it was impossible. He smiled as the sun warmed his cheeks and considered that perhaps it was merely difficult and draining. It was something worth knowing.

Mother's voice was cool and sharp. _"I think we need to clarify just what 'it' is, Sephiroth. What you're doing to the girl seems to be more of a courtship than a seduction."_

Sephiroth laughed again. "It's all the same thing, isn't it?"

_"I wonder at your motivation."_ Quiet words, softly poisonous.

The green-eyed man did not notice. "It's the same as it always was, Mother. Claim her body and her ability for our cause." He paused to reflect on the simplicity of that goal. The path seemed as clear as the blue sky above. "And if I happen to enjoy her company as well, all the better."

_"There's more to it than that, I fear,"_ Mother hissed. _"Much more, and you can't even see it."_

"See what?" Sephiroth asked lightly, too calm and assured now, too immersed in reflections of his plans for the future to seriously consider the deeper meaning of his Mother's words. His mind took a sudden turn in direction, but went down a narrower, hidden path instead of the one that lay straight ahead. "Mother! You're not jealous, are you?"

_"Don't be ridiculous!"_ Mother shouted and barred the way. Exhausted as she was, all she could muster was a dull pressure inside her son's mind to urge him away from such thoughts. He obeyed, but only because he was too lighthearted at the moment to push the matter. He immediately busied himself with images of the woman-child he had left behind. It was amazing how the mere thought of her brought the same soothing ripples inside him that her touch did.

He straightened up and began to pull off his gloves. He wanted to feel the sun's warmth on his bare hands. He had never been in the habit of paying too much attention to his surroundings, other than to map an escape or note potential danger. Now he wanted to touch the sun. What did it matter if it burned? Other things burned worse.

He leaned forward to look around. At first glance there was nothing but bare, red rock. He wondered if his emerald-eyed girl could possibly find this place beautiful. She seemed to think all nature was, so perhaps she did. He wished he had thought to ask her the night before. Everything was new and fresh to her. He closed his eyes to picture the look on her face, the wonder and delight with which she faced the world. How did she see this place? The eyes he opened were not those of a jaded warrior.

He saw the riot of warm colors in the majestic pillars of stone. Time and the elements had carved this small portion of the Planet's skin into a child's ruby castle. It took his breath away. Life, life was all around. Even if he could not see it, he could feel it, almost lay a hand on it. Some part of him longed to leap out of his skin and touch the surge of Planet life below. The desire welled up in him to connect with everything he felt around him. He let himself slide to the very edge of his consciousness. He pressed himself hard against that wall, pushed harder, slid past it, and felt himself float slowly down.

He rose, giddy in the stream of life and subtle thought that he felt around him. Was this what it felt like for his lovely girl? Her mind had flowed around his in almost the same way. It was simply incredible to think that this shining place had been within his reach all along. How could he have left this part of his awareness unexplored? Perhaps it had not always been there. Perhaps she had opened the way for him while she had guided his mind the night before.

He grew aware that his body moved and he could see the way the flood of life responded. Little ripples, large waves, all flowing out, ebbing in. Life was a tide, a stream, and it rushed all around him. He could see the currents, swirling rapids of blue and green. He felt the soft push at his back. He walked, following the flow. With this sight, his path was clear. He drifted along, aware of the dark wake he left behind him.

Small knots of brightness lay around him, tight knots of light where the life had gathered strongest. They glowed and moved and grew, grew so bright that their shapes could not contain their light. The man watched the brightest – the oldest – burst wide open. Life erupted forth to rejoin the stream in a joyful dance, despite the empty shells of dark shadow they left behind. What concern had life for shells? Their shining was glorious but at the end of it all, they were vessels, nothing more.

The fluttering patterns of light drew him in like a moth. One structure in particular attracted him. It was not like the others that merely contained life and multiplied it until they burst. It did not swim along the currents. Threads of green light from the stream worked their way up its form, twisting and twining until they finally spread out in a broad sweep. They formed an intricate pattern, one that swayed gently despite the surrounding rapids.

Life leaked from this shell. The tiny threads spread, coiled, brightened and eventually seeped from invisible pores and yet this vessel showed no sign of breaking. It took from the stream and gave back without extinguishing itself. The man had no idea how long he stared at it, lost in child-like wonder as he was. Near the top of the swirling light, life gathered in a tight, glowing bud, one that would blossom forth to create more life. Sephiroth reached out to touch it. The sight of his hands made him stop.

His hands were empty voids against the glowing backdrop. He stared at them, front and back, unable to understand. He looked down at himself. He was a dark hole in a bright world. There was no light in him. He reached down to touch the stream and for the first time noticed how the light recoiled from him. It flowed all around him, but not through. Every other living thing could commune with life. Why couldn't he?

His heart sank fast, rekindling his awareness of his physical body. He reached out desperately for the shining jewel of life before him and though his dark hands cupped its form, he could not feel it. He was excluded. He was not like the rest. He did not belong. He wanted to rail at the unfairness of it. He wanted to touch the light and have a part of it for his own, to be like everything else around him. What curse did he bear to be denied this?

He tried to grasp the bright strands around him but they flowed away from his hands. The pool of light brightened around him, as if that living ocean wished to cover him. He tried to cup the light again, but the flow turned to nothing in his grasp. There was a rapid pounding inside him. Distress could still reach the body that felt so far away. The strands of light surged around him as if they wished to touch him and infuse him with their brightness, but there was a barrier. Despite all longing, neither could cross to the other side. A strong wave rose, the stream's great final effort to swallow him, claim him. He stood with open arms, desperate to welcome the life force he had barely known existed.

He found himself on hard, red stone again, in the shadow of the cliff he had set out for. One knee trembled and he sank. The Planet had thrown him out on the dim shores of the physical world. Sephiroth bowed his head. His chin felt sharp against his collar bone. He struggled to stop shaking but he could not dispel the tightness in his chest.

He had always known that he was different, but he did not realize just how deep that difference ran. He had never imagined that differences could run so deep. He was alone. It should not matter as much as the deep anguish that sat inside him seemed to indicate. He had always been alone.

He would always be alone.

It was a deeper pain than anything Mother could inflict, to be forever separate from every living thing on the Planet. The blue sky paled above and daylight began to fade. Dim shadows crept out of their hiding places again as the man knelt contemplating his cold future. Alone, being alone, that was not so unbearable. He had hardly known anything else... but this sudden knowledge, this certainty that there would never be anything else for him... that was loneliness. It weighed down on him so heavily he thought it would crush him to death.

He almost wished it would.

He held his bare hands up before him and stared at the blue-green lines beneath the pale skin. He knew the blood that ran in them was as red as anyone else's. He did not want to think about what taint ran in his veins to so thoroughly hide whatever light might have once been in him, make him an outcast, rejected even by the Lifestream. He breathed deeply again and pushed the thoughts away.

There was a plant in front of him, a common dessert plant with thick roots and gnarled branches. Its succulent leaves were made to hold precious moisture. He was surprised for a while. This was what had caught his attention before. This was the shining thing that took and gave life, and the shining gem was only a large, white bud on its branches. He recognized this plant from his readings. He knew its name, those of its botanical relatives, the temperatures it needed and the type of soil it grew best in. He had learned all this years ago.

Today he had learned that this plant was luckier than he could ever be. He shut his eyes against the hurt. Already, the image of flowing, soothing life was slipping from his memory. There was only darkness behind his closed lids. He opened his eyes again, unable to bear the emptiness. He reached out and caressed the white bud. He could feel it now. The unfurled petals were smooth and waxy to the touch.

It was a sturdy plant, as any desert bloom would be. The flower would not open till it had gathered enough moisture. It was far from the most glorified of blossoms. Its petals were few and simply arranged, but it could survive. It was alive and it would go on living in some way even after it surrendered its shining.

Sephiroth cupped the large bud in both hands and knelt over it for a long time. He forced his pulse to be steady and kept his breathing even. His head bowed under the weight of the grief he refused to give free reign. His forehead touched the petals. Briefly, the life that flowed through them rushed up to meet him, as if to bestow a comforting kiss, but the sensation was fleeting. The man half-wondered if it had happened at all. It was such injustice, so much cruelty, to show him the full extent of what could never be his.

He swallowed the pain and drowned it in his own fire. His hands began to shake with something other than grief. His jaw tightened as he stared at the plant. How dare it exist this way when he could not? Even the folded petals he cupped seemed to mock him. Sephiroth snapped the stem and severed the tender bud from the life that sustained it. He held the thing in both hands and gloated at his victory.

Over a flower.

The rage subsided as quickly as it had come. The man let out a pent-up breath. He was a fool, truly, to be so destructively jealous over a tiny plant. It lay in his hands, heavy with a promise of life that would now go unfulfilled. Sephiroth's regret was as fleeting as his rage. What was done, was done. He could not make the split stem whole and could not infuse the bud with the life it needed to bloom.

_'Sephiroth!'_

"Yes, Mother?" he answered quietly. "Where were you?"

_'I was always here, boy! The question is, where were you!'_ Mother snapped.

Sephiroth paused, confused and more exhausted than he had been at noon. "I don't understand, Mother."

_'I could not reach you until just now. Where did you go?'_

"I didn't go anywhere." The man rose to his feet and stepped into the lengthening shadows at the base of the cliff. He leaned heavily against the stone as he walked. "There's nowhere for me to go."

_'Stop sulking,'_ Mother snapped. _'You know exactly where you have to go and what you have to do.'_ Sephiroth made no reply. He ignored the slow, growing burn of Mother's presence in his mind as he slid along the foot of the cliff in search of a place to stop. It would be several hours before true night fell and without Aeris, he would not be able to sleep, but he had done too much this day. Any rest at all would do.

_'It's that girl, isn't it?'_ Mother grew prickly with suspicion. _'She pulled you away.'_

"She did not pull me anywhere." Sephiroth set a forearm against the stone and leaned heavily on it. He still held the dead white bud in one hand. Its firm shape, its surprising weight would not let him forget that he held it still. It only reminded him of his eternal solitude, but he could not bring himself to let it go.

'She must have done something, Sephiroth,' Mother insisted. 'How else could you have vanished from my sight so completely? I could not tell if you were alive or dead.'

"You know something, Mother?" A weak, wry smile graced the swordsman's lips. "Neither could I." He pushed himself off the wall and resumed his journey.

_'I warned you about this,'_ Mother said, and he could almost feel her shaking her head in disappointment, though her presence was beginning to fade. _'She has veiled your eyes and made you blind to sense. She is drawing you in.'_

"If that is true," Sephiroth allowed, "would that be such a terrible thing?"

_'I warn you again, Sephiroth!'_ The voice grew colder and fainter. _'If you are not careful around her, you will lose yourself.'_

"What is there to lose?" he mumbled. "I am just an empty shell."

_'What are you talking about?'_ The words slid past him, muted and hollow and needing no answer. Mother had slipped from his mind. Sephiroth only wished she had taken his tension with her.

It did not matter. He had hoped to reach the next place that the puppet's group would stop before nightfall. He had almost looked forward to that place. He had visited it often enough in what little time he could have called his own in his previous life. It was a place of learning and he had always sought knowledge. He had learned so much there, or thought he had. Now he knew that he knew nothing. His fingers tightened around the waxy bud that he still carried and just as quickly relaxed. The bud rolled in his slack grasp, rattling in its cage of slender fingers.

Sephiroth sighed and wished he could hold Aeris at that very moment. Her presence was so much easier to bear than Mother's. Near Aeris, grief was not so heavy, light and life did not seem far away. Her body enticed him, laughing eyes entranced him and the quick, eager mind drew him down, closer to her beautiful inner light. With her, he could be at peace.

Or something.

The darkening blue sky seemed to blush as if it could read his thoughts. The horizon was a fierce red bonfire. Sephiroth closed his eyes and spread both arms as he walked. The stone brushed smoothly past his fingertips and he could still feel the sun's warmth, tamed now to a gentler blaze. Without his sight getting in the way, he could almost pretend that what he felt was not rock. Perhaps it was hair, thick, dark, wavy hair. He walked faster so the stone's natural roughness was smoothed by his speed. Yes, it was hair, her lovely hair, free from its braid.

He almost tripped when his fingers touched air instead. He opened his eyes. There was a crack in the rock, a dark crevice. It rose up in the cliff wall to a scant few inches above his head and seemed just wide enough for him to fit through, if he were to set his back against one side and go in sideways. He bent down and peered in. It was too dark to see more than a few feet into the crack but there was a sound like that of waves upon the shore. Sephiroth put one hand into the opening and felt the air rushing past. It was not just an isolated crack. It led somewhere, perhaps to a larger cave.

He stood and debated for a while. It was as good a place to rest as any and nothing that could possibly be inside would be any threat to him. He slipped the unfledged blossom into a pocket, grasped his sword and slid easily into the darkness. He soon found the reason he had not been able to see too far into the crack. After a few feet, it took a sharp turn, then another, and then a few more. He shuffled along inside to ensure that there was indeed solid ground beneath him. He had no wish to fall off a hidden ledge into an underground cavern.

The air was remarkably fresh and he could feel it rushing over his skin. The fissure had to lead somewhere. He was sure of it. Another sound joined the air's mimicry of ocean tides. It was almost like the musical trickle of running water, but it could have just been the imaginings of a tired man.

The narrow crack opened into a corridor. Sephiroth stretched his arms out once more. Both his hands brushed stone. Even with the twin lights of his mako eyes shining eerie green into the darkness, he could barely see more than a few feet in front of him. It was rare to find a darkness that was so complete. It was almost as lightless as he was. He smiled maliciously into the gloom and walked deeper into the cavern.

He felt better already.

* * *

**A/N:** Written to 'Thrown Away' by Vast and you have Classic Disney to blame for the previous two chapters. :D This one certainly took the scenic route getting where I wanted it. As usual, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Thanks for reading! 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Buge- Bugenhagen!" There was a loud rap on the door. "Bugenhagen! Open up and come outside!" The speaker was urgent and excited. Inside his slightly cluttered quarters, Elder Bugenhagen of Cosmo Canyon grinned and took his time activating his transport platform. It was not smart to get too excited about anything at his age. "Bugenhagen!" The voice grew more impatient. "Get off your leathery old behind and come outside!" That got the old man's attention.

"What's the fuss about, Bugah?" he asked as he swung the door open. "I'm an old man, you know." He waggled his eyebrows at his childhood friend. "I need my beauty sleep."

"No time for joking," Bugah exclaimed. "Nanaki's back! He came home!" This got the Chief Elder's attention at last.

"My little Nanaki? He's home?" The man's eyes grew wide and he flew out the door. Bugah had to step back out of the way. "Where is he? Where was he? How did he…oh, never mind that!" He raced down the stone corridors so quickly that the torches flickered as he passed.

Bugah could only follow as best he could once the initial shock had passed. He got outside just in time to see the other man almost get bowled over by a huge ball of red fur. Bugah stayed in the shadows of the stone tunnel and smiled. There was more he needed to talk to his friend about, but it could wait. Bugenhagen would see soon enough.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was hours later and completely dark when Bugenhagen finally sought out his fellow Elders and friends. Bugah and Hargo were painstakingly transcribing old texts onto fresh paper by torchlight when they heard the hum of the Chief Elder's transport platform. They turned to see the bright light of a torch moving up the tunnel towards the small study. Bugah had to smile when he saw his old friend. The Elder looked years younger. Nanaki's disappearance had weighed heavily on the man.

"So the little furball's okay, right?" Hargo smiled. Bugenhagen returned it, though there was some heaviness in his brow that only old friends would notice.

The Chief Elder hovered in the doorway. "Shinra kidnapped him when he went out for a run. They sent him to Midgar and kept him as . . ." the man shuddered, "a research specimen."

"That's terrible!" Bugah had not suspected that it was something like that. Shinra usually left the supposedly barren Canyon to its own devices. "Those people he came with, he said they helped him."

"So I heard," Bugenhagen nodded. "It's good that they were let in for the night, even if we are pressed for space to put them. They helped my Nanaki." He frowned. "I owe them so much for rescuing him. I wish they didn't have to stay in the inn. Guests deserve better than that."

"Will they be staying long, you think?" Hargo's brow furrowed as he considered it. "The traveling musicians will be moving on in a day or two. That should free up some rooms." He stretched. "Of course, there is still that one big room." Bugenhagen looked away. "Come on, now," Hargo pressed. "It's been empty for years."

The Elder was silent for a while. His expression was nearly impossible to read in the flickering firelight. "I can't."

"Bugenhagen."

The Elder cut off the other men's protests. "There's still too much of _her_ in there. Everything in that room was hers, the way she wanted it. For all that we know, what's in that room is all that's left of her." His head fell forward. "I know it seems silly after all this time."

Bugah shook his head. "No, you're right. Even if she hadn't been your, well, you know, the tomes she left behind there are priceless. It would be a shame if anything happened to them, even by accident."

Enough time had passed that Bugenhagen no longer felt the aching loss he once had. The wispy ghosts of might-have-beens had grown easier to ignore. It would not have mattered if not for the living reminder that had come into the small, cliff-dwelling community this evening. He sighed.

"This evening, you saw her too, didn't you?" Hargo asked. "The girl in pink?" The Chief Elder's silence was answer enough. "You think maybe… I mean, the resemblance is just too close for it to be coincidence."

Bugenhagen turned towards the doorway of the small cavern. "The possibility is there. If that girl is her child…well, I'm glad she got what she wanted after so long."

"If the girl is her child," Bugah insisted, "she could finish the translations of the writings. She could explain what you've heard from that machine of yours."

"She could tell you where her mother is, if you care to visit, for old time's sake," Hargo broke in. "Maybe you should clean up first, though." He grinned and slapped his knees. Bugah began to laugh. Bugenhagen smiled along with them.

"That was a very long time ago. Things happen. People change." He floated out of the study but turned back before he was completely out of sight. "I'll talk to the young woman tomorrow. It can't hurt to find out what she knows."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

She knew nothing. If the years had not taught Bugenhagen strength, it might have broken his heart. He noted the way she watched the swirling planets in his observatory as they dimmed and stilled. Her green eyes were wide with childlike delight. Bugenhagen's heart sank like a stone.

The young woman before him was the spitting image of the one he had known before, but there had been nothing childlike in _her _eyes. True, this one, Aeris, she understood all about the spirit energy and the Planet and the connectivity of it, but Bugenhagen could barely see anything else in her. He shook his head.

The girl was young, that was all. She had not had the years, the decades for her eyes to turn to chips of flint. She still stepped lightly. She did not have the weight of the world inside her. She had a sweet, gentle smile that she shared freely; one smile for Nanaki, one for the blond SOLDIER, Cloud and one for Bugenhagen himself as the little group filed out of the room.

"Thank you for showing us your observatory," she said. Her voice was like a melody he had long forgotten. "I didn't know anything like this existed."

Bugenhagen felt himself sinking towards her. He shook his head rapidly to clear it. Perhaps he was not as old as he thought. "It's no problem, dear," he replied. "It's always a pleasure to share this knowledge with others." The others in the group walked on ahead but Aeris stayed behind as if she actually was interested in what an old man had to say.

"I was wondering…" she nibbled at her lower lip as she tried to gather the words. Bugenhagen was sure it was unconscious but it drew his eyes nonetheless. The thought that he should step back a bit crossed his mind. "Could I speak with the rest of the Elders about the study of Planet Life? There's a lot I want to know." Bugenhagen sincerely hoped she had not seen how his eyes had been fixated on her lips.

"Other Elders, yes," he mumbled, nervous for no reason. "Yes, Hargo and Bugah have all the information, that is, all that is left over from the Cetra."

"The Cetra?" Her emerald eyes widened at the word. "Oh, I need to know more!" If Bugenhagen had not been standing on his transportation platform he was fairly sure he would have fallen right over. The shade of her eyes was so familiar. If he'd had any doubts about Aeris' heritage, they were all gone now.

"Ho ho hoo," the old man laughed with his eyes closed to avoid the view his higher position afforded him. "Follow me, dear, I'll show you the library. That would be the best place to begin explaining things to you." He turned his back on her and zipped outside, all the while reminding himself that he was old enough to be her great-grandfather. "Tell me about yourself, dear. Where are you from?"

"Midgar." She turned to go down the ladder that led from the Chief Elder's dwelling to the rest of the community. Bugenhagen kept his head down, plotting his progress as he floated down the tunnel. He could not be too intrusive. Heaven forbid she think he was prying. The situation called for caution but he had to know. He needed to know about her life, her family and especially her mother.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The library was dusty, but most places were here. The youngsters of Cosmo Canyon took turns dusting the shelves each morning. The older students transcribed the faded scrolls onto new parchment in the course of their studies. There were books and fragments of books from cultures old and dead, civilizations that would have been bare myth if not for the painstaking labor that went into preserving their memory in this place. Some of the oldest knowledge in the world lay within these dusty walls.

The Elders guarded the ancient records fiercely. Very few were ever allowed access to the original copies, these fragile folios with ink that faded faster than copies could be made. Bugenhagen often feared that what little knowledge of the Cetra the library held would crumble to dust before anyone could make use of it. He did not fear so much anymore.

She was here, the last Cetra, final descendant of that noble race. The Elder tried not to stare at her, but he could not help looking every now and then. She sat at the sturdy table, leaning eagerly over one thick book. More than a few of the older students – male students, Bugenhagen noted - had offered her their candles to light her work, so she would not strain her eyes in the dark. Some had even offered her their seats in the sunlit main reading hall, but the books she was here to read were not to be carried out into that open space, where they could be exposed to the elements. The candles lit her familiar features with a golden glow.

She looked very much like her mother. Her _dead _mother, the Elder reminded himself. It was worse than he had feared – Ifalna dead, shot down by Shinra grunts, the child she had wanted for so long left to depend on the welfare of a stranger. The wisest, noblest of women had died a broken husk of herself in the cold streets and her precious child, the last Cetra, had been raised in ignorance of her own people's history and lore. Bugenhagen had to turn away for a while.

It was not Aeris' fault that she did not know certain things about her race, but it was in her best interest to learn, if the inordinate amount of attention she was attracting was any indication. She was only twenty-two. That age seemed so far away to Bugenhagen. It would have seemed even further away to the girl's mother.

His train of thought was interrupted by the entrance of one of the older students, a young man, unsurprisingly. The brown-haired youth stood shyly in the entrance for a moment. Aeris looked up and gave him a small smile before turning back to her reading. Her smile was just a hollow echo of what it had been earlier, but the boy's face lit up like a torch. He crossed the floor hurriedly, exchanged the book he was carrying for another and left with a long backward gaze at the Cetra girl.

Bugenhagen sighed. The girl was barely out of childhood, but clearly she was woman enough for the Planet's purposes. He had felt it himself earlier, the inevitable pull resurrected from his distant memory. He crossed his arms as he fought the urge to look at Aeris again. He wondered if she knew what was happening. From the unguarded way she dealt with all the attention she was getting, she did not really seem to. She had not had her birth mother to explain certain things to her, to explain what undoubtedly was happening to her now.

Bugenhagen smothered a grimace in his sleeve. It had been so long since Ifalna had told him and yet he still felt the blush rising to his cheeks and the pain deep inside at the memory of how she had brushed aside his feelings. _"Just the Planet tugging your blood,"_ she had said. That same Planet had driven Ifalna to sheer recklessness in her attempts to satisfy it. The Elder sighed. He and Ifalna – they had simply not been meant to be.

"But it wasn't just the Planet, Ifalna, it wasn't."

Aeris looked up. "Did you say something, Elder?"

"What?" Bugenhagen looked up. "It's nothing, dear. How's your reading coming along? Are you finding everything you needed?"

"Oh, yes!" Her eyes lit up. "There's so much in this one alone. There are even some old stories I've heard from…from a friend." She pointed to the picture she was staring at. "This one is all about the maps of the night sky. The Cetra certainly did a lot by the stars."

The Chief Elder was delighted at her enthusiasm for the old books. "Ah, they did travel the stars, didn't they? They settled planets and cultivated the life there and when the time came, they moved on."

Aeris studied the picture one moment more and brushed her hand against the dark shape in the star-riddled sky on the page. "I wish I knew how they did it."

"Ho ho, so do I, so do I. They knew many things, your people did." Bugenhagen's sharp eyes took in the titles as he floated past the bookshelves. "There's so much they had to tell us. If only we'd known how to listen."

Aeris stood and clutched the thick red book to her chest. The way she kept her head bowed in thought was terribly familiar. There was far too much that was familiar about her, now that Bugenhagen had become used to looking. The way she stood, the tilt of her body as she teased and especially her boundless thirst for information. She could be as knowledgeable as Ifalna had been, given time and the opportunity to learn. The Elder was sure of it. In fact, he would insist that she…

He brushed the thought aside. No one would object if she wished to stay and begin studying Planet life, but ultimately that was her decision to make. Her gaze flitted about the room as if she were considering something. Staying on, perhaps?

"Is there anything else you would like to know, Aeris?" Bugenhagen asked gently. He wanted to pretend that the way she drew breath before she answered did not hurt his heart at all. He almost turned away. He could hardly take much more of this at his age.

Aeris spun around slowly, considering the question. "There are some things…From what I've read so far, the Cetra could actually speak with the Planet. How did they do that?"

"I thought you would know better than any of us." Bugenhagen was not sure what she was asking. "Don't you hear the Planet?" How could she be a Cetra if she did not?

"I hear it," Aeris said, shaking her head. "That's not really what I meant, though. I can hear the Planet's voice. I know what it feels. I just don't know exactly what it's saying. Did the other Cetra understand it?"

Bugenhagen took a deep breath. "From the little I know, I mean…" He coughed. He did not know how to tell her. "The Planet doesn't speak any language that was meant for mortal ears to understand." He closed his eyes and tried to think clearly. The image of a beautiful woman with flowing dark hair darted through his mind. "Did you find anything that mentioned Planet Readings?"

Aeris put the book down and flipped through it to find the page. "There was something here. I didn't really understand it. Was it some kind of ritual?"

"No, not really." Bugenhagen shook his head. If only he had been able to witness such a thing. He might have been able to describe it better then, but from what he knew, such a thing required at least a few Cetra. He had known only one. "Let me see…No, I'm sorry. I can't really say for sure how its done." He rose to the ceiling for a slow, thoughtful look at the books on the higher shelves. "I once knew someone who would have been able to make it sound so simple."

That was it, the opening gambit. Let her ask about this person, let telling her be easy. She needed to know, had every right to know and she would have to know soon for her own good and for the sanity of every man around her. It did not matter if dredging up the past hurt him. He was almost on his way out of this life. What mattered was that Ifalna's daughter was here and there was much she deserved to know.

Aeris slumped back into her seat. "It's something only another Cetra could explain, isn't it?" The lump in the Elder's throat hardened. The girl read into his silence. "There really are no others, are there?"

Bugenhagen did not have the words to describe the tightness inside at the shadow that grew from inside her and enveloped her. It was like the petals of a flower drawing closed, not dead, no, but seeking to protect itself from the harsh night. In the space of a breath, it seemed as if she had taken the weight of the Planet upon her shoulders. The darkness in her eyes aged her in the Elder's mind. He reached out a hand to touch the apparition from the past.

The young woman looked up again and the image slid away. Bugenhagen's hand fell. He shook his head at himself. There was not much time left for him, he supposed, if ghosts of his past had decided to surround him now. It seemed Aeris had come to them just in time.

He caught the girl's patient, questioning gaze and shook his head. "I'm sorry." He had to tell her, he had to, he knew it, but his heart trembled against the surge of memories and failed. He turned away, barely able to speak. "There were very few Cetra left even before I was born."

"There are no more anywhere at all?" The question was barely audible but the Elder could have sworn he heard Aeris' hope die.

"There are none left but you." Bugenhagen turned around. Aeris was standing again and staring at the words on the yellowing page. The Elder had half-expected tears from her but instead, there was dry-eyed solemnity and a cold acceptance that was heartbreaking in its familiarity.

"I knew," she said, her voice hardly trembling. "I always knew, but still…" Her shoulders shook slightly. "It's hard, you know, finding out for sure." She took a deep breath to get herself under control.

Bugenhagen lowered his platform to the floor level. He suppressed the urge to reach out and hug the girl, sure that it would only lead to both of them making blubbering fools of themselves. "Come with me." He spoke to break the moment before it could grow too uncomfortable. "There's something I'd like you to see."

He thought carefully as he led her through the maze of tunnels, pausing only once, to grab a torch from its sconce. The destination was not very far from the library but the narrow corridors had barely been used in recent years. As far as most people of Cosmo Canyon knew, there was nothing beyond them. Bugenhagen himself had not passed this way in years, though barely a day passed by when he did not remember how it had looked long ago.

He traveled slowly, looking behind every now and then to be sure that she kept up, but neither of them said a word. The silence between the Elder and the girl grew heavy with expectation. Bugenhagen was almost relieved as they neared the little opening, the long upward column of space that seemed to be a dead end. "Wait here," he told her and floated up to the ceiling. He watched her from his high vantage point for a moment.

Aeris spun around to look at the rough walls of the circular space in the dim light. There was only one entryway, the one she had just come in, and there seemed to be nothing at all to find, other than a strange rope and pulley system against one part of the wall. She followed the rope upwards. She had to crane her neck to see how far up the column it led. Bugenhagen floated at its end near the top with the torch. The Cetra was amazed at how he could stand the dizzying falls and rushes he made with that platform of his. It was certainly better than a wheelchair.

"Just a minute, dear," the old man called down. "The equipment's a bit stubborn." He set the torch somewhere out of sight. Aeris could tell from the way the orange glow spilled out into the column that there was another tunnel at the top, perhaps another room. "Aeris, stand back! I'm letting a ladder down!"

Aeris flattened herself against the opposite side of the wall, half-expecting the thing to come crashing down. Instead, there was the sharp clatter of wood knocking stone as a rope ladder was lowered down the wall for her to use. It crawled downwards in fits and starts as Bugenhagen struggled above with whatever mechanism was involved. Aeris smiled. There was so much done in this place without harnessing the power of mako.

"Is it down far enough yet?" Bugenhagen's voice echoed down the column.

"Not yet. A few more feet!" Aeris heard the creak of old machinery as the ladder was sent down far enough for her to start climbing. "That's fine. Thank you, Elder!"

Bugenhagen turned to face the room he had not visited for years. "Don't thank me yet, little one," he murmured. He stayed right where he was, unable and unwilling to move further inside.

Aeris climbed nimbly up the ladder. It did not sway as much as she thought it would, but it was a long way up and the sensation of so much wavering rope below her made her nervous. She was relieved when she reached the top. The entryway was perfectly suited to the ladder, with a wide protruding ledge for her to step onto and plenty of niches in the rock to act as handholds. She stepped inside hurriedly, eager to be away from the open ledge. The people who designed and used that room must have had nerves of steel. The rope had been attached to a simple hand-operated axle so it could be lowered for use or taken up for security. Aeris leaned heavily against the stone doorway and studied the rope and pulley that had attracted her attention earlier. There was a strange sort of container attached to the top.

Bugenhagen saw her look. "That's to send a torch up so your hands will be free for climbing. Clever little thing, isn't it?"

Aeris nodded and looked around the room. The room inside was full of shadows from the flickering torch. It was spacious, if a bit dusty, and like most of the rooms in this network of man-made caves, there were no sharp corners. The roughly hewn walls curved around in a large ovoid, like an egg, and the ceiling above was almost a perfect dome. Only the floor below was smooth and level, and below the dust, there seemed to be intricate patterns etched into the surface, a sinuous mass of lines with no apparent pattern or meaning. There was a bed in the center, where the lines seemed to lead, a narrow bed with faded blue covers and a bed-frame held together by old grey rope. There was an elaborately carved chest at its foot. Aeris took a tentative step towards it. She could not explain what she felt, but something was drawing her to it.

"Why don't you open the windows?" Bugenhagen suggested. "It's quite bright outside."

Aeris nodded wordlessly. She crossed the dry stone floor to the nearest set of slatted, wooden blinds and reached for the woven cord. It was stiff to the touch, hardened with age. Aeris gave it a sharp tug and the blinds flew up to let in a flood of brilliant sunlight. "Oh!" She stepped back and blocked her face with her hands. It was almost painful to eyes that had spent the morning in darkness. Aeris turned away, blinking.

Bugenhagen had not moved from his place. The girl was a shadow against the white light. He could not see her features clearly. She was just a dark shape in a familiar room. Her form was familiar as well. Her height, her curves, they sparked the old memories in the Elder's mind and threatened to start a blaze that would consume him. Slowly, his eyes grew accustomed to the light. Color seeped back into the girl's form and he saw her again, truly, not the shade.

"Might as well open up all the windows, dear." More light meant more color, more detail, and fewer deceptive memories.

Aeris nodded hurriedly, surprised that the thought had not hit her sooner. She made the rounds, letting the blinds up. There were three windows in all, carved at even distances around the narrow end of the room. The light flooded in and brought fresh air with it. The torch Bugenhagen had brought with him flickered weakly in its sconce near the entrance as if it knew that it was unnecessary now.

Aeris paused at the center window and looked outside. She stepped back hurriedly with her heart in her throat and gripped the wall for support. She had expected a view of the community, the stilt-legged wooden annexes to the cave network and the ladders that led to them, the sun-bronzed locals, even the Cosmo Candle, the bonfire that protected the Canyon and was never allowed to go out. Instead, the room overlooked a deep crevice. She had leaned right over the gaping crack. This room was the perfect place for a suicide leap.

"Oh my, I'm sorry, Aeris," Bugenhagen bobbed up and down in the doorway. "I should have warned you about that. We're on the opposite side of the rest of the community." He hovered over slowly, careful to stay as close to the wall as possible. "What you're looking at there is the deep end of Cosmo Canyon itself."

Aeris breathed deeply and grinned at herself. "I had no idea." She looked at the dusty trails her feet had made. "What is this place?" It had obviously been someone's bedroom and quite possibly that someone had been important to warrant this amount of space, but that person was long gone, judging from the air of disuse that still hung thick in the air. Years of stagnancy would not be blown away by a few minutes of sunshine.

Bugenhagen did not know exactly what to tell her. For what felt like the millionth time that morning, he reminded himself that she, of all people, had a right to know that this had been her mother's room, for the few months each year that the woman stayed at Cosmo Canyon. His heart fluttered in his chest and he had to lean on the wall behind him for support. He cleared his throat.

"Right now it's where we keep the bulk of the Cetra literature that has come into our possession. There's much more than we can translate at the moment and we've mostly been too occupied trying to preserve the little we had downstairs." He motioned to the chest in the center. "Feel free to take a look around. I'm sure what's in here will be of more use to you than to any of us at the moment."

The girl approached the bed a bit timidly and walked around it. The way she stood in the pool of light from the window nearly brought tears to Bugenhagen's eyes. He straightened and tried to steady himself, but his heart was racing. He felt a great need to be away from her, from this place, from anything that was too much of a reminder. "You can use this room anytime you like during your stay here, Aeris." He knew he had made the right decision even as he turned to leave.

"I can?" She seemed surprised.

"Of course, dear. You're a born Cetra even if you weren't raised one. You have every right to be here." He ducked out of the doorway, cursing his weak, old heart.

"Elder Bugenhagen! Where are you going?"

Bugenhagen thought quickly. "I promised Nanaki that I would tell him everything that happened around town while he was gone."

"Oh," Aeris said shyly, embarrassed that she had kept the man from time with his adopted grandchild. "I'm sorry if I've held you back from other things."

"It's no problem, dear. It's my pleasure as well as my duty to help." The words left the man's mouth mechanically. She belonged in this place. Perhaps some time alone here would show her that. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

He looked at the girl one more time as he left the room. The image of her standing near the bed stayed with him as he floated down the tunnels in search of rest and peace. His chest hurt a bit, but he knew the ache was more than physical.

"You should have been my daughter," he murmured as he went. "You should have been mine."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris watched wordlessly as the Elder zipped out of sight. The silence he left her in seemed heavy and strangely turbulent. This room had a meaning and a history that she could barely begin to imagine. There was no need for guessing though. Bugenhagen had given her permission to look around, permission for more than that. There was one obvious place to start. She tiptoed towards the trunk at the foot of the bed.

It was very large, made of dark wood, and though there was a dull brass loop at the front of the lid, there was no lock. Aeris knelt before the chest and ran her fingers lightly over the dusty surface. In the trails her hands left behind she saw carving that was breathtaking in its detail. She dusted the chest down the best she could with her bare hands to free the images from their fine, grey prison. Fine vines worked their way along the edges. Flowers bloomed among the curls that framed a forest scene. Each leaf on the slender trees was clear to the eye. Shy animals peered out from behind foliage and the moon hung gracefully among tiny, swirling stars.

The scene swallowed her senses the longer she stared. Aeris could have sworn that what she felt was fur and delicate petals instead of solid wood. The sky and trees at her fingertips became imbued with soft color. The birds that rested in the trees seemed to blink at her. She let her hands run over the cover and watched how the animals darted out of the way, how the leaves rustled in response. She felt the grass give way to her touch. Her fingers ran upwards to the sky. She wanted to touch the stars, to see if they moved in response. Her hands ran across the sky, but she felt nothing, saw nothing. Perhaps stars were too far away. She pressed harder but nothing happened. She laughed a little at herself. Her hands were too small to make the stars move.

There was a swift, soft flare and some of the stars suddenly stood out in sharp relief to her eyes. The patterns were eerily familiar, the shape of a proud woman with flowing hair and a regal man at her side. The figures were here in greater detail than she had ever seen them before and they moved, ever so slightly. She saw the folds of their robes, the expressions on their faces. The king inclined his head at her with a smile that would have warmed her heart if not for the icy presence of the queen, who caught Aeris' eyes and studied her. It was a measuring look, not a malicious one, but the girl's heart raced at it nonetheless.

The spell was broken. Aeris breathed again. The wood beneath her hands was just wood now. The scene was no less magnificent, but the color she had sworn was there had been replaced by the dark luster of polished wood and no matter how hard she looked, there was no trace in that carved night sky of the constellations she had seen. Aeris slumped to the dusty floor, unsure of what she had seen or what it meant. Her hands fell to her side and trailed limply along the floor. She felt the lines that were etched into the smooth stone. Aeris wiped her dusty hands off on the hem of her dress and wished that she knew what the lines and symbols meant, what magic her people had been able to impress upon the simplest objects. A few minutes passed by before she tested the lid of the chest. It was surprisingly light. The hinges did not even creak as she swung the lid up. Aeris leaned over and looked inside, not sure what she would find.

The inside was remarkably dust-free, a testament to the skill that had gone into the coffer's making. There were thick books and scrolls, perfectly preserved. Aeris reached in and paused with her hands above the books. She did not know what to look at first. She was seeking answers, but she did not really know what questions to ask. She made a small sound of amusement and let her hands sink slowly to one large tome with a deep blue cover. If she had no idea what she wanted to know, anywhere at all was a good place to start. She pulled the book out and leaned sideways against the trunk. Eagerly, she opened the book to the first page, then let out a cry of disappointment.

She could not understand the words, or even the letters. The book was in the Cetran tongue. Aeris set it aside and chose another, a slimmer one with a cover of silvery-green velvet. This too, she had to set aside. One by one, she removed the contents of the chest and each thing left her more frustrated than before. The books piled up around her. The scrolls rolled slowly away. She leaned back against the chest and choked back a scream.

It was unfair, to have her people's knowledge at her fingertips and still be unable to understand a single word of it. The strange symbols that made up the Cetran alphabet were completely foreign to her. She wished the Cetran Elders who sometimes contacted her had thought to teach her how to read. What few words she knew were only from constant contact with the fainter voices that guided her. She was an illiterate simpleton before her own people. She closed her eyes against the clutter in despair. There were no answers for her here.

A warm feeling stirred inside her. The Planet was reaching out to comfort its last Ancient child. She felt the tendrils of that greater awareness wrap firmly around her trembling mind and embrace her. The fine threads of it shored her up against what little she had learned this morning. She almost swore that she could feel it patting her back as the warmth spread up to her shoulders and soothed her frayed nerves.

It was not enough. She wanted it to be enough, but it was could not be, now. She felt more alone now than she ever had before, last scion of a dead race, unable to truly understand the one presence that had been a constant companion all her life. Sometimes, when the night was very still, she could almost hear words in that great voice, but the harder she listened, the more fractured they became and eventually the fragments would slip away, as if purposely eluding her. Not for the first time in her life, Aeris wished she was not so alone.

She looked around at the shaky piles of books around her. If there were at least a few more Cetra in the world, older ones who could explain to her the workings of Planet, lifestream and soul, then perhaps she would not feel like one of those books herself, a useless relic, a reminder of something that no longer had a place in the world. The only place for her now was the Promised land. She wished someone could help her find it. The time of the Cetra had passed.

The thread of the Planet's awareness inside her surged against her own and nearly battered her with its force. The voice howled past her and she felt it wrap around her. The presence flowed into every empty crack of her psyche and filled her head with its fierce insistence that the end had not yet come. Aeris gripped the side of the chest for support and steeled herself against the intrusion.

"Stop it, stop it!" She grated the words out between clenched teeth. "It's over for us. There are no more Cetra here. Accept it and leave me alone!"

The Planet relented. It pulled away quickly from the dark corners of Aeris' mind, aware that it had crossed a line. The trails it left behind radiated shy regret as they vanished into thin nothingness. Aeris slumped against the trunk, weary and breathless. The weight of her forehead squeezed her fingers bloodless against the wood. Her breathing was ragged and her chest hurt from the pressure of cries she was afraid to let free. She did not know if they would be sobs or bitter, helpless shrieks. Her entire body shook.

The shy presence at the edge of her being offered her a tentative caress. Aeris lifted her head and took a deep breath. She wanted to scream at that presence some more, tell it to go away and let her be like everyone else. She did not want it hanging around to remind her of her shortcomings as the Planet's last true-born companion. She did not want it reminding her that she was terribly alone. She let out a muted cry of distress.

The Planet could no more leave her mind than she could change her blood. Aeris felt it turn in on itself at the boundary of her mind as it attempted – and failed – to hide its own shame and loneliness. The girl fought back the tears that burned her eyes. She knew she was being unfair. "I'm sorry, friend. I know there's no one else for you." Without each other, they were both lost and helpless. Fuzzy waves of emotion rolled gently over her, comfort, forgiveness, contrition, understanding. "There's no one else for me."

The Planet grew firmly defiant at that. Aeris felt it envelop her. Its soft folds wrapped her in hope and a nearly blinding reassurance that she would not always be alone. It brought memories, very recent ones, to the surface, memories of feverish kisses and eager caresses, of shining eyes and long, pale hair. Aeris smiled. She stretched her legs out and leaned back against the solid chest. She closed her eyes and let herself sink into the warmth. Memories were nice. Not wonderful, just nice. Nothing could compare to the real thing. "Thank you," she whispered.

The great being in her mind knew what she craved. It ebbed and flowed against her like a gentle tide, not intruding now, only comforting. The Planet knew how she felt, knew what she wanted and needed, perhaps better than she did herself. Aeris could have it easily, if she would just let go. The Planet would see to all her needs. Aeris wanted someone to hold her and stay with her. She wanted something to keep her safe and offer her respite from lonely existence. What Aeris wanted, the Planet wanted for her and what Aeris wanted was a tangible love.

Aeris let her body relax as the Planet began to hum an ancient melody to her. She smiled and was unconscious of it, of how her breathing slipped to match the rhythm of the quiet music in her mind. Slowly and shyly, she began to hum along. She caught the fragments of the melody as best she could and did not mind how the many layers of it engulfed her.

She felt the wind stir around her and heard the clatter of the wooden blinds against the stone, but she kept her eyes closed, surrounded by soothing sounds. She did not see the way the edges of the room began to glow with light the color of the lifestream, how the green shining flowed through the mystifying lines on the floor. Aeris kept humming, unaware that the Planet, her friend, had her completely in thrall.

The lifestream glow lit the sinuous patterns to thin lines of green fire that slowly, steadily blazed their trails towards the center of the room, to whatever arcane sigil lay hidden beneath the narrow bed. A cold white light ignited there. It spread out from the center of the room and enveloped everything in its path, including the girl who lay surrounded by books, mindlessly humming.

Aeris opened her eyes. She saw nothing but a field of white light and heard nothing but music all around her. She smiled calmly into the bright void. The Planet was all around her and it brought her love. Her eyes slid closed again, conscious only of the vague feeling of weightlessness. The music flooded slowly through her body. She did not have the presence of mind to attempt to understand what was happening, lulled by deep harmony that seemed to seep from her pores. Brief flashes of color, whites, silvers, lifestream hues, swam before her eyes as she sank further into the Planet's embrace. Time slowed for her and all around, the Planet's force swirled, then grew still.

When she returned to awareness she thought she had fallen asleep on the floor. Aeris sat up and stretched the kinks out of her neck and arms. The sky was still bright and the wind had picked up a bit. The blinds were clamorous against the stone. Some of the books had blown open and the wind played mercilessly with the pages.

Aeris went to her knees in alarm. She had to pack them back before the elements could do any serious damage. She began to pile the tomes and scrolls into the chest, carefully checking each cover for dust and rolling each scroll neatly before she put it in place. The books had remained unharmed in their brief sojourn outside the chest. They were good as new, untouched by dirt or harmed by the wind. It was a pleasant surprise.

If Aeris had not been made so unwary by her deep communion with the Planet, she might have noticed that cords for the wooden blinds now whipped with serpentine suppleness in the wind. She might have noticed that the ropes that bound the wooden bed-frame together was no longer quite so grey, that the covers that had lain on the bed for however many years were a bolder shade of blue than she first remembered. She might have seen that the once dull floor now bore a faint sheen. She might have sensed the restrained power that had just rushed through the arched room, felt the renewal of purpose in this repository of Cetran antiquity. She had a purpose herself, though she was not sure what it was or why it was hers.

It did not matter.. She felt refreshed, more alert than she had been in a long time. The air she breathed seemed more fragrant. Her heart fluttered and her skin tingled. She had the sense that things were falling into place, but could not tell if the sentiment was truly hers.

Aeris paused. The Planet brushed reassuringly against her. The girl smiled and continued to stow the books neatly away, humming an intricate melody all the while.

* * *

**A/N:** A teensy bit late for an April update, but hopefully long enough to make up for it. Thanks to Noacat for beta-reading and Akira Majere for encouragement. I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with this fic. Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter Fifteen R Version

**Note:** Rules are rules. This chapter is truncated. For the full version go to the links in my profile or here:

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**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Fifteen**

No place was ever as barren as it seemed. Even in the darkest depths, there was life. The force of seething, rushing, streaming life was too great to be manifest only on the Planet's surface. If man could not see it, he simply had not yet realized what to look for. The deep cavern that the swordsman walked through had no life that he could see yet, but there was a sure sign of it. There was water.

He heard the rippling echo as he stepped further into the endless gloom. His eyes quickly adjusted to the extent of the darkness, though if the surrounding stone was lit only by pinpoints of green light, the man did not care. He found the first trickle easily enough. It bubbled up at his feet, a tiny, rolling flower of a fountain that coursed down the slight slope of the rock like fluid crystal. He followed it down. There was not much else to do.

The water flowed steadily through the network of dark caverns as it sought the lowest point. It would pool in the hollows in the cave floor and make them dark mirrors of liquid obsidian, then brim and tremble and spill out to run farther into the dark. The tiny trickle became a stream that joined others or was joined by them. The stream swelled to an inky river, deep and wide, flowing swiftly through the caverns.

The rippling water seemed to sing through the caves. The echoes were like an old song that Sephiroth had heard once a long time ago and forgotten till now. He hummed weakly to the rhythm of his own feet but soon gave up. He had never trusted his singing voice and there were too many layers in that ancient melody for him to even begin to follow. He closed his eyes and walked with his hand trailing along the dampness of the near wall to guide him. He never stumbled.

The lines of melody floated down the tunnels and were lost in a larger echo. Sephiroth stopped, poised at the brink between silence and a roar like distant rain. He opened his eyes. The stream that he had followed now pooled in the blind end of the tunnel Sephiroth's ears had led him down. The surface of the small lake was very still, a sure sign to the swordsman that it was unimaginably deep.

"_Do you have any idea where you are?_" Mother's voice lacked its usual sharpness.

The man rolled his eyes. "Not really." He paused at the side of the water and unfastened the clasp of his coat.

_"What are you doing?"_ The words bore only a hint of the natural indignation Sephiroth had become accustomed to. _"You can't stop for a bath! You should be finding a way out of here!"_

Sephiroth folded his coat neatly and began to work on his boots. "I'll find an exit later, Mother. The water must be going somewhere but I've been walking for hours and I really want to wash." He arranged his clothes with military precision, all neat heaps and straight lines, then slipped into the cool water. He let out a satisfied moan as he settled in up to his chest and let the current take the weight of his hair.

_"You mean you don't want to go courting smelling of leather and sweat,"_ Mother said dryly. Sephiroth did not answer. He appeared to be engrossed in sluicing water over his shoulders but he may just not have dared to face the truth in his mother's words. The silence stretched out and the man showed no intention of breaking it. _"What are you going to do this time?"_ Mother asked.

Sephiroth smiled. "Whatever she wants me to do, as always."

The being in his mind, weak from recent efforts, gathered itself for a last hopeless attempt to sway the swordsman from his course. _"What if what she wants this time still isn't what you want?"_

Sephiroth slid further into the water. "What she wants, she gets. That's the entire trick to it, isn't it?" He felt Mother settle in her position.

_"I hope you have more stories to tell then. It would seem the child's only interested in old tales."_ If Sephiroth did not know any better, he would have guessed that Mother was amused. _"You could tell her that one about the girl and the monster, or the one with the maiden trapped in the tower. Then there's that delightful one about the girl who left a shoe on the palace steps. That would be perfect for your little barefoot damsel."_

Sephiroth smirked and arched an eyebrow. "There are handsome princes in all those stories, aren't there?"

_"They're supposed to be charming too!"_ Mother snapped. _"Insufferably stubborn child."_

Sephiroth laughed just a little. He gathered up the damp locks of his hair and set them upstream so he could feel the current pull them again. "The stories are only a distraction, Mother. She wants more. I know she does. I'll have her soon."

_"If you say so. I still think you should have simply claimed her at the very start. You would have saved yourself all this time and effort."_

The man closed his eyes and let the memory of that first sight drift past him. The girl had been so helpless where she lay. Mother was right. It would have been much simpler if he had taken Aeris then. He felt his entire body grow slack, nearly weak at the remembrance of slender limbs and soft curves, delicate features and the sweet, sad expression that spoke of a familiar pain and loneliness… He opened his eyes to force the image from his mind. "She will serve me much better if she binds herself to me of her own free will. I will bide my time and wait for her to do so."

_"But if you ever do claim her, what will become of you afterwards?" _There was a slow poison in Mother's tone. _"How long will you keep up the charade? How long can you be the indulgent suitor?"_

Sephiroth would have blushed if he had been a lesser man. He had no idea how long he could keep being kind and gentle to the girl. It just came to him so easily when he was near her. He bowed his head and trailed one hand idly through the water, ashamed to admit the fact to his Mother.

_"You are still absolutely determined to follow through with this careless plan, aren't you? It will only bring trouble, but if you're so resolved to bed her, there's nothing to do but let you learn from your own mistakes. I will let this madness run its course."_ Mother's presence began to fade. _"But remember, when you finally open your eyes to the web she has woven, you can always come to me…son…"_

"Whatever you say, Mother." The swordsman ducked his head under the water and turned to face the current. Mother was gone by the time he came up for air.

He leaned back against the edge of the pool and cupped some cool water in his hands. He stared at the way it shone with the pale green light it reflected from his eyes. Its surface barely trembled in his steady, gentle hands. In a second, he tightened his grip. His hands clenched into hard, brutal fists. He felt the water slip through his fingers. He squeezed furiously, driving the very last drop of water from his grasp. When it was done, he relaxed. He let his hands unfurl and stared at them once more, smiling wryly all the while. Too bad Mother did not understand.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris stepped lightly in time to the music in her head, completing yet another circuit around the room. She studied the pattern on the floor and the row of glyphs carved in a line where wall became ceiling. Sometimes she picked up one of the books from the chest that still lay open at the foot of the bed. It did not matter anymore that she could not make sense of the letters. The more she moved, the more the song flew through her, the easier it was to pretend that there was something there. The spinning symbols almost seemed to make sense.

The dressing table hidden in the curtained alcove begged her to sit, so she did, to rest awhile. There was a small comb there, with a simple, narrow pattern of leaves carved into it. Aeris ran her fingers over the fine teeth. The thing seemed almost alive. Everything she touched or saw there placed its own fine impression in her mind.

She picked the comb up gingerly, with the wary respect given to another's belongings. The more rational side of her instructed her to put it back at once, but she did not. She turned it over in her hands and traced the carving, then slowly began to run the thing through her hair.

_'Yes, like that,'_ it seemed to say. _'I once combed hair very much like yours.'_ Aeris studied her reflection in the mirror. The image was dim and shadowed and Aeris had to stare for a while to truly see herself.

_'I know your face,_' the mirror sang. _'I've seen you before_.'

This place was a haven. It became apparent the longer she stayed. Whoever had once owned it would have welcomed her. She felt it with a bone-deep surety. Every object, every thread and cord, everything, right down to the lines in the floor, asked her to stay awhile. Somehow, she belonged here.

The bed invited her to rest as surely as the great carven chest, still open at the foot of the bed, had first invited her to explore. Aeris set the comb down gently and did not notice how the click it made upon contact blended seamlessly into the Planet's song. She stood and walked over to the bed. At first appearance it was quite ordinary, with blue covers to match the night sky, but its mattress was somewhat thin, barely more than a well-stuffed pallet. Aeris could not help kneeling down to inspect it.

The wooden frame appeared at first to be bound together with strong rope, but it was not so. The entire thing was a seamless whole, or else crafted so skillfully that the eye could not detect the lines. There were no sharp edges to speak of, only smooth, flowing curves that followed the natural grain of the wood.

Aeris followed the ropes that coiled around the posts with a light hand. They led straight under the mattress. Aeris lifted the bed skirt and peered underneath. There were no bed springs at all. Instead, the ropes formed a net, irregular and drawn tight over the frame to support the weight of the bedding. Aeris wondered how it could hold the weight of a sleeper as well.

There were beads woven into the netting, large ones, some of intricately carved wood and some that seemed to be glass. A few almost seemed to glow in the darkness under the bed. Mindful of the dust, the girl tried to get a closer look, but as her arm brushed against the symbol on the floor she felt a strange heady warmth overtake her. It was a little like the rush she felt when Sephiroth…

"Oh my," she sighed and slid out from under the bed. "Maybe I've been up here long enough." The Planet's voice chimed in mild discord. "I should go," Aeris insisted. "The others might be looking for me."

She walked towards the doorway, reaching for the rope ladder, but before she left, Aeris took one last lingering look at the strange, beautiful room. Her heart sank a little as she turned away. It felt like she was leaving home.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"I couldn't tell her."

"What!" Hargo stood out of his seat, alarmed. "What do you mean you couldn't tell her? What couldn't you tell her?"

Bugah kept his seat. "I thought you agreed she had to know, Bugenhagen? What made you change your mind?"

Bugenhagen spun away. His reason was foolish and he knew it. "I didn't know how to…" he trailed off.

"What was that?" Hargo asked. "You said you're a chicken?"

The Chief Elder whirled around. "NO, dammit!" His friends grinned at him. He shook his head. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"You could tell us why you didn't explain the situation to the girl, for starters," Bugah said.

Bugenhagen sighed. There was no way out of it. "She reminded me too much of her mother. I know it's ridiculous but every time I looked at her, I kept thinking for a second that it was Ifalna there and when I remembered who it really was...it was just too strange."

"What's so strange about it?" Hargo sat down again. "You tell her you knew her mother and explain the facts of Cetra life. That's all there is to it."

Bugenhagen grimaced and tugged his beard. "This is the kind of talk a girl is supposed to get from her mother, not her mother's arthritic …former associate."

Bugah nodded. "Yes, I suppose it would be hard admitting that Ifalna traded you in for a younger model."

"_Several _younger models," Hargo put in.

"You rotten old geezers!" Bugenhagen frowned and turned away again. His friends shared a guilty look behind his back.

"You know," Bugah dared, "you don't even have to tell her about Ifalna, if it's too much for you."

"That's right. All she really needs to know is how things work," said Hargo. "If she wants to know how you know all that stuff about the phereromo…phremono...pheno..."

"Pheromones," Bugah offered.

"Yeah, those things," Hargo continued. "We've got more info on the Cetra than anyone else on the Planet. Who's to say one of these books lying around isn't some kind of Ancient sex manual?"

"That's a rather disturbing thought," said Bugenhagen. He looked around the room and studied the shelves. It was a possibility.

"You've got to tell her something, Bugie-boy," Bugah insisted. "You must have seen how the young men are reacting to her already. Who knows how long she's been building up to this state?"

"I saw, I saw…I'm just wondering if maybe it's best to just let nature run its course. You know, let her find someone she loves and stay with him, no matter how things work out." The Chief Elder sighed, "She doesn't need all the worry about… conceiving and all that." The small room was quiet while its occupants considered the fate of one proud, hardened woman and the string of broken hearts she had left behind her.

"It won't work," Bugah broke the silence. "I don't think Aeris has a choice in the matter. It looks like the Planet's already sending every potential candidate for fatherhood her way."

Hargo pounded the table. "Did you see them, Bugenhagen? This morning, every young man in the library noticed when she came in and I swear, they've been falling all over themselves to be nice to her. Hell, even Lucius offered her a seat!"

Bugenhagen raised an eyebrow. "Lucius? But isn't he…"

"Gay? He was till she walked in!"

Bugah massaged his temples. "It's true. I've cancelled all meditation sessions till further notice. I don't want the women to get suspicious and I don't think the boys ought to try connecting with the Planet while Aeris is in town. It's just…"

"Making them horny and setting them on her trail!" Hargo finished for him. "That's what the damn Planet's doing!"

Bugenhagen took it all in. He shook his head. "It isn't fair. She's so young. She doesn't just look like she's in her twenties. She actually _is_ in her twenties!" He bobbed slowly around the room, the closest he could get to pacing. "It was hard enough for Ifalna and she wasn't raised the only Cetra on the Planet."

Elder Bugah rose from the table. "It isn't fair, but Aeris can't help being what she was born, or what happened after." He stepped in his friend's path and caught the Chief Elder's eyes. "Tell her, Bugenhagen. The Cetra population is at its lowest point. She needs to be able to make informed decisions about choosing a mate before the timing gets critical."

"Damn straight!" Hargo pounded the desk again. "If she doesn't know what's going on, she'll just fall for whatever horny toad comes her way."

Bugenhagen nodded. "The last thing I want for Ifalna's daughter is for her to end up with someone who won't love her the morning after." His shoulders fell and he looked up at the low, smoke-stained ceiling. "And he'll need to be understanding, if she has to move on." There was a spark in his eye as he came to his decision.

Bugah smiled and thumped his friend's shoulder. "That's my boy! Get on out there and tell that girl what she needs to know!" He gave Bugenhagen a shove towards the doorway.

"Hey, wait a second! Let a man gather his nerve a minute!" The Chief Elder protested, not quite eager to face his task. "How exactly did I get nominated to do this? You all know the facts as well as I do!"

"Hmm," Bugah paused to think. "You knew her mother."

"So did you two!" Bugenhagen spluttered.

"Yeah, but you _knew_ her mother!" Hargo winked and joined Bugah in shoving the Chief Elder towards the door.

"You also have experience giving the talk to another species," Bugah intoned with grave sincerity.

"That's right! You explained the birds and the bees to Nanaki, didn't you?" Hargo gave his friend one final push out the door. Bugenhagen gave up and bobbed down the tunnel without bothering to answer. "Didn't you?" Hargo yelled again, but all he heard was his own voice echoing back.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris wandered cautiously down the dim tunnel. She stayed close to the side and one hand brushed the rough stone as she passed. Since she had left the room there had been no sign of anyone else and she began to wonder if she had taken a wrong turn. It was lonely where she walked, with no echoing voices. The torches that flickered at distant intervals offered no open welcome and the song that she held in her heart was fading quickly.

She paused at one dark bend in the tunnel and looked back the way she had come. She could almost catch the Planet's lilting tune if she listened carefully enough. Aeris leaned heavily against the stone and closed her eyes to listen. Ahead was the cold shock of relative silence that would seem even emptier now. Behind her was that warm welcome and joy she had never heard from the Planet before, but it seemed that the music grew fainter even as she listened.

She tried to catch the fleeting strains and keep them but the grand complexity of it all was too much for her and the greater part of it was lost along the stone pathway. All Aeris could do was hum the single, slow line of melody that she had felt inside before. Her memory filled the spaces with what few layers of the song it had retained. It was not the same, but it was enough to pretend. Aeris took a breath, opened her eyes and moved forward.

Her voice trailed down the tunnel and was lost. The halls seemed almost emptier for the pitiful attempt to fill them. Aeris kept walking, determined not to give in to the isolation that had encroached upon her mind since she had left the room.

She gained confidence as she walked. Her voice grew stronger and bolder, bolstered by its own growing echo. Aeris smiled then, and kept humming, enraptured by the sound of the simple melody, looped and layered with itself and pealing down the tunnel, far and away. It was easy, now, to imagine that she still carried the whole of the Planet's glorious song with her. Her own voice seemed to become the whole, with interweaving lines and layers, intertwined and sinuously flowing. Aeris paused to take in the effect and almost swore that it had captured something of her melody's deeper counterpoint with it.

The echo of her voice faded a little, but the counterpoint did not. It came racing down the tunnel towards her, in a clear, vibrant voice, deeper than her own, and faded away in recognition of her silence. Aeris stepped forward again, eyes wide and skin tingling. When all was still once more, she dared to hum a cautious refrain.

The deep voice reappeared, its tones dancing around the echoes of her own melody. The girl did not know what to make of it. She walked faster, leaving the support of the walls behind. The echo broadened and disappeared as she approached an opening, a nexus in the tunnel network. Aeris stopped humming as she put one foot into the small torch-lit cavern.

The person who was already there did not. He turned, a tall figure in black, and finished the line. Aeris' breath caught in her throat and she froze under his gaze. She did not know him. He stepped towards her with a smile. "I thought no one else remembered that song," he said lightly as he brushed dark hair out of his face.

Aeris edged sideways and sought shelter from the wall. There was something in the strange man's gaze that left her feeling oddly naked. A tense moment passed before she realized that he was waiting for a reply. She swallowed. "It's…it was something my mother used to sing to me." It may have been true. Aeris could not remember.

Falsehood or not, the stranger seemed to believe it. "Is that so?" The man leaned in closer and put a slender hand against the wall, near Aeris' head, to brace himself. Her heart leapt within her as she noticed how close he was.

His smile brightened and a certain light came to his eyes. Aeris could not help noticing that they were green, though touched with too much smoky grey for her taste. A thousand things about him reminded her of what she wanted, but something was not quite right. His hair was too dark, too short, and the green-grey eyes did not bear the signature touch of mako.

Aeris held her breath as he leaned in towards her. There was no open malice that she could read in his features, but something about him struck her as odd. She looked him up and down hurriedly and swallowed again, disturbed that her throat was so dry. There was no reason that she could think of for such a reaction.

One dark eyebrow rose and the lips curled into a smirk. "Like what you see?" he asked slyly. Aeris looked away. The man stepped back, laughing. The sound echoed down the tunnel behind Aeris. Aeris laughed nervously and dared to look again. Laughter had brought a little color to his cheeks. The girl knew immediately that he could not be one of the Canyon's sun-bronzed natives.

"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked, bolder now that she knew what had set her on edge before.

He shook his head. "No, I'm just passing through with a group of traveling musicians."

Aeris smiled grew just a shade more genuine. That explained his slender fingers and his voice. "So you're a musician, then?"

"No." The reply came readily. "I'm Master Sagara's healer." Aeris' gaze grew distant at that. A healer…that was interesting. The man saw her look. "He's getting on in years, you see," he explained. "His patron hired me to care for him on the road." Aeris stepped closer before she could stop herself.

"Then you don't play music?" There was just a little disappointment in her voice. The young man smiled at her.

"Only the little I'm forced to pick up from being with the group," he answered. "Sorry." He laughed a little and Aeris felt herself drawn to the sound despite herself. She kept smiling, but inside, fought with a flood of alarm that she was being so bold. She could not tell why his presence was having such an effect on her.

The healer leaned towards her and stared straight into her eyes. "Do you like music? There's a special performance planned tonight to welcome the Chief Elder's grandson home. I could ask the Master to play something special for you." He gazed at her for a moment.

Aeris felt a bit lightheaded from the attention. She looked away again, embarrassed. A slender hand came towards her and before she realized what was happening, the man brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes. Aeris swallowed and glanced sideways at him. He used the moment to cup her chin. Aeris could barely breathe as he turned her face towards him. The way he stared at her made her warm inside. She felt the heated flush of a deep blush reach her face. She gasped and turned away again, dizzy from it all. She had to lean against the stone again for support.

"Are you alright?" The smoky eyes radiated concern.

Aeris nodded. "Yes. I just got a little dizzy there."

The healer took her hand and led her across the little cave. "Maybe you've been choked up in these tunnels too long. You should go out and get some fresh air."

Aeris' skin tingled where he touched her. "I'll be fine." Her words were firm as she stepped quickly out of reach.

"Are you sure?"

The girl nodded with a nervous smile. Here was warmth and welcome, if she was willing to have it. It would be so easy to reach out. "I…I'll go now."

"Take care of yourself, then," he said as she turned away. He stared down the path she had gone long after she was out of sight and though he eventually turned to go his way, he found himself lingering in the place they had met. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back with a smile.

"She's perfect," he declared.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sephiroth let the water fly off his body and reached for his clothes. He knew he should be finding a way out of the caverns, but there was a peace here he was not quite willing to abandon just yet. His lingering here seemed to annoy Mother as well. That was not an entirely bad thing, he supposed. She had not punished him for anything and he was beginning to suspect that here, she could not. What mystic power there was in the singing water, he wished he could tell. He kept his eyes on the deep pool as he picked up his coat.

Something fell out of the pocket, something round and pale. It rolled across the stone floor and into the lake before he could stop it. He dropped his coat and lunged for it, but the current pulled it swiftly out of reach. He stopped just short of the water and watched it float away. It was the large bud he had plucked from the tree on the rocky plains. He tilted his head to one side in surprise. He had forgotten about it completely.

It skimmed quickly across the surface of the water to the far side of the lake. There it began to dance a slow circle. It whirled faster and faster and its path grew tighter and tighter. Sephiroth leaned forward, intently focused on the pale dot on the dark water. He blinked. It vanished.

He straightened with a certain smugness on his face. He had known the water would be going somewhere. He put one foot in the water again and dove into the deepest part. Pale hair billowed up under the water, unfurling as if to reach the surface, but it was soon pulled down and swallowed beneath the inky dark.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cosmo Candle was hypnotic and soothing. Aeris lost track of time as she stared at the flickering dance of the flames. It was a blessed fire, this blaze. It protected the Canyon from harm, the locals said, and they sincerely believed it. Aeris was hardly one to doubt it. There was something in that warm, yellow glow that drew the eye and called to the weary and the lonely.

It was a small surprise at first, that the others around the fire were so silent, but Aeris understood the quiet the longer she stared. This flame was indeed something more than it appeared. She stared at it and let her mind roam. The bonfire's warmth did not bother her despite the heat of the day. It was a welcome change, in fact, from the cold, loneliness of the tunnels. If she did not think too hard, she could almost pretend that it covered the despair that had slipped over her when she left the Planetsong behind.

The crackling fire lent itself too well to remembrance. The events of the day drifted past. All she had learned, all she had known, rose to the surface of her mind. She sifted through the varied memories, the near-tears, the songs, the Planet's fierce insistence and always, the growing sensation of being absolutely alone in the world.

It was almost too much to bear. It was an old burden, one she was long-accustomed to, but today, with the sure knowledge of the glorious birthright she had been denied all her life, the wound was torn fresh again in her heart. She glanced up the faces of her friends, golden with the fire's glow. If any of them had looked at her in return, she would have breathed with relief and assurance, but they were all deep in thoughts of their own. She was alone, only one of her kind, the last.

She jumped as a hand brushed her shoulder. She turned quickly to meet Cloud's concerned gaze. There was a question in his eyes, but he did not speak. She offered him a smile, aware that it was weak and tremulous. "I learned a lot today," she said. "The Elders taught me many things." She stared harder into the fire again. "About the Cetra…and the Promised Land." Cloud sat beside her and nodded encouragingly, giving her his full attention.

She looked up at him. His eyes were blue, beautiful, and there was a concern there that he tried to hide. Someone else had once looked at her that way. Recent grief tolled in her heart and the burden of being forever apart from everyone made itself felt once more. "I'm…alone…," she said. "I'm all alone now…"

"But I'm…we're here for you now, right?" Cloud reached out hesitantly and stopped.

"I know, I know, but…" Aeris pretended that she had not seen his gesture, though it warmed her. She almost wished that he had touched her, that he'd had the courage to hold her close. She needed someone to hold her, longed for someone, anyone to comfort her, but there was no one. "I am the only…Cetra."

"Does that mean we can't help?" Cloud's brow furrowed and the glow in his eyes softened in a way Aeris knew she had seen before. She struggled not to cry out, to keep herself from shivering. She could not bear to look at him anymore, though she remained acutely aware of his presence at her side. She could feel those blue eyes on her form. If she turned to look at him, she knew she would throw herself into his arms and weep. Instead she stared resolutely at her hands. Her fingers trembled slightly.

The silence grew heavy between them, too thick and uncomfortable for Cloud to bear. She sensed the way his weight shifted as he stood. "Aer…" he whispered as he stood. "If you ever need anything…." He turned and walked away. "I'm here."

Aeris looked up. He had not meant for her to hear that. She could feel the shyness in him. His heart was still with her, even though he was walking away. She looked at his back as he walked and a warm smile reached her face. Silent laughter reached her eyes. Cloud could be so sweet sometimes, beneath the tough front he put up. It seemed that all the SOLDIERS she had ever met were like that.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Bugenhagen did not relish his task. Bugah and Hargo had a way of making it sound so simple, but they had not been tied up in the matter the way he had. They did not know how deep the potential for pain went. He bobbed slowly through the halls, not particularly eager to reach his destination. He tried to let the scene play out in his mind.

He would have to sit a grown young woman down, somewhere private, of course, and tell her about the pheromones she was not even aware she had. He would have to caution her against finding the wrong kind of man, remind her of her responsibility to her kind. That seemed easy enough, if a bit embarrassing for both of them, but Bugenhagen knew the reality of Aeris' situation.

He had seen it happen to her mother, how the Planet had driven her from partner to partner despite her feelings, until there was no heart left in her to give to any of them. What was supposed to be an expression of loving union became a perversion of itself, a necessity, a burden that tore out the soul of its bearer, all so the Planet would not be alone. Bugenhagen knew, perhaps better than anyone else alive, how much they all owed the Planet and what a blessing it was to the Cetra that their existence was bound up so tightly with it, but this, this final facet of the Great Mother's will, this was cruel.

Bugenhagen shook his head. Aeris was so young to bear the burden. He blinked a bit as he stepped into the sunlight, then took a look around. He spotted a flash of pink on the dais that bore the Cosmo Candle. Funny how the bonfire had a way of drawing newcomers to it. Most of her friends were there too, Nanaki along with them. The Chief Elder moved forward, though he wished he did not have to. He would be destroying a girl's innocent dreams of true love.

He stopped on the stairway when he saw her face. There was warmth and joy there, a simple happiness, all directed at the blond swordsman's back. Bugenhagen could not go further. Who was he to take that joy away from her? He kept watching and saw Aeris look into the fire again. He caught the brief glance that Cloud threw her way, read the tender concern in the line of the young man's pose. There was something there…

Bugenhagen stared hard, amazed, then smiled. It was better that she have this, no matter how brief it was, than nothing at all. Who was he to cut a young woman's happiness short? Let her enjoy her youth. There would be time enough for responsibility later.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The pressure would have killed a lesser man. How deep the lake was, Sephiroth could not tell. He would have barely been able to tell which way was down at all if not for the steady current. He kept swimming down with no care for air or for the growing weight of water above him.

The stream pushed him, pulled him. There was nothing to see that far down. Briefly, he entertained thoughts of strange creatures in the deep, of large fish with furious jaws and ancient reptiles that still lurked without knowing that their time had passed. He brushed the thoughts aside and flowed with the current.

He could not tell where the stone was, or where the water ended. He spared no thought for even returning to the surface. The water was cool, immensely soothing. There was a sudden rush at his back, a powerful force. The current grew stronger and sent him hurtling headlong down the waterway. He relished every second of it.

Then, the fierce pressure was gone. Sephiroth knew then that the stream must have led him through some tunnel, some pathway to a lower point, where the water was free to roam and spill again. His feet brushed stone. He let himself settle to the bottom and felt the brush of his hair against his skin as it flowed with the water. He drifted there for a while, aware of nothing but the water on his body, its soft pounding in his ears. There was a rhythm there, one that almost matched his heart. Just above it, faint and far away, he swore he could hear music, but when he tried to listen, it slipped away.

He pushed off against the stone and shot to the surface. He surged out of the water with fierce grace. His hair traced a bright arc in the air as he flung his head back. He breathed deeply, without distress, as he took in his surroundings. The tunnel he stood now was fairly shallow, but the current was fast and strong. Here too, the water sang. Sephiroth followed the sound, drawn by its promise. It reminded him of _her._

The ripple he had heard at the source was overwhelmed by crowding waters. The first musical echo dulled to a rush that breathed through the caves like an everlasting sigh. The river lapped against the rough stone walls and the sigh broadened into low moaning. The water flowed on and became a force strong enough to shape its own path. The tunnel floors deepened and the cave walls curved away. The river ran fiercely on and roared against the receding stone. The roar grew thunderous, as if the mad water sought to instill fear in its own echoes. The caves widened beyond sight and the roar became a crushing force. The water grew turbulent just a little further on, whitened and foamy, partly hidden by a dense mist.

Sephiroth walked into the damp cloud. The stone floor ended some feet away, though the cave's ceiling still curved high above. Sephiroth stood carefully at the water's foaming edge and peered over the ledge of stone. He could just barely see the feathery white plumes of water that splashed up from below. He looked back at the way he had come and forward again to the waterfall. There was not much choice. He walked onwards, one step, two, and threw himself to the void below.

If water could feel, no wonder it rushed so quickly towards the fall. Sephiroth rejoiced in the sensation, the sudden lurch, the lightness of the extremities, the way his hair floated above him. It was over too soon. The riverbed below rushed up to meet him. He let his body flow with the impact, his mind stilled to enjoy the moment before the rest of his body caught up with gravity again. He rose slowly, blanketed in the fine mist of the falls and kept moving forward.

He followed the wide river, exulting in the coolness of the damp air around him, heedless of his nudity. If the flower he had followed had come down this way, he saw no sign of it.

The river split into thin streams that snaked off into the darkness. Some flowed through cracks not wide enough for a man to fit through. A few fled into dark paths the man felt no inclination to explore.

A cool draught drew him along. The wind's low voice blended with the river's song. It drifted across his wet skin and toyed with his hair. There was an opening somewhere further down and if the quiet pledge the water made was to be believed, he would find what he sought there. He paused and took a deep breath. The air was fresh. The opening was close. He walked calmly into the wind.

The river had diminished to a weak stream by the time he saw the first glimmer of light. The hope of finding what he wanted rose to follow him like a ghost. He went cautiously up to the gap in the stone wall. The light was weak and tinted with the deepening hue of a sun low on the horizon. Sephiroth stepped boldly through the gap into the open air.

Water did indeed seek its lowest point. The swordsman found himself at the absolute bottom of a deep ravine, staring up at immeasurably high walls of stone. There was nothing but rock all around and above him. The thin line of water hurried away from him, almost apologetic for leading him on. If he had been anyone but himself, he would have been disheartened, but Sephiroth was firmly self-assured of his significance in the world. It would take more than towering rock and dashed hopes to make him bow his head.

He looked up at the deep purple sliver of sky above him. One side of the Canyon rose higher than the other. It was not unusual in this area. He frowned a little as he realized that he had no idea at all where he was. He did not know which way the twists and turns of the caves had led him. The light, fast-fading, was too weak to cast a reliable shadow and there was not enough visible sky above for him to judge his position by what stars were out.

He sighed. He would most likely find himself heading back the way he had come, swimming upstream all the while. That in itself was no problem. He worried more that the river's path might have taken him far from Cosmo Canyon, where Aeris was.

A dark shape flew overhead, most likely some desert bird, a mere speck against the glowing sky. Sephiroth tracked it idly as he plotted his next move. It flew right by the high wall and Sephiroth thought for a moment that he spotted something odd nestled high up in the stone. It could have been a trick of the light, but there seemed to be a deep, small and very regular shaped depression high above him.

The swordsman narrowed his gaze. It could very well be a window. If his long swim had taken him to the back of the desert settlement, a window was a way in. One night apart was far too much. He would find what he was after. He smiled.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Oh gods, this is terrific," Tifa slid into the water and settled upon a smooth rock. Aeris smiled. The Canyon's bathing pools were a blessing. She had wondered how so many people managed to survive in the dry desert. She never would have guessed that so much water flowed beneath. Where it came from, no one really knew, but it was clear, pure water and that was enough. It flowed through the lower caverns and formed beautiful pools for all to use.

Aeris had to commend whoever had come up with the sensible rules for using them. The pools near the first bubbling crack in the stone were drinking water only. It was further down the twisting tunnels that the washing was done. And the bathing pools were the absolute highlight of it all. There was lava lower down, in deeper caves that were now locked off for the safety of the community, and the heat that rose upwards through the rock warmed the water just short of the perfect temperature.

"Come on in, Yuffie," Tifa waved the girl over. "What are you looking around for? We're all girls here."

"I know, I know," the ninja mumbled, though she still fidgeted with her towel at the water's edge. "Those guys better not try peeking."

Tifa laughed. "Don't worry. If they try anything, I'll sock 'em."

Yuffie seemed satisfied with that and entered the torch-lit pool. She ducked her head completely under the water for a second and came up significantly less dusty than she had been before. She pulled one short lock of hair forward and strained her eyes to inspect it. "Aw, man, still dirty. I'm gonna need a real scrubbing."

Tifa dog-paddled across the pool. "How'd you get so dusty?"

Yuffie blushed. "I was in the storage room for a while today."

"Doing what?" Aeris asked.

Yuffie looked down and mumbled. "Nothing, really. There's not a whole lot to do here." Tifa and Aeris shared a glance and came to a silent agreement not to pry any further into that.

Aeris cupped water in her hand and poured it over her shoulders. Then she took a breath and followed Yuffie's lead, ducking her head completely below the water. She came up smiling through the rivulets that streamed down her face. It took a while for her to blink the water away, but when her vision was clear, she saw Yuffie peering nervously down the hallway to the men's bathing area again.

"Yuffie, why are you so worried about the guys peeking all of a sudden?" Tifa asked, grinning. Yuffie twitched and sunk low in the water to hide her red cheeks.

Aeris could not recall ever having seen the girl this embarrassed before. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

Yuffie scrunched up her face before she answered. "There was a …boy…he kept looking at me today." She sank even lower in the water for a second.

"Oooh," Tifa grinned and did a lazy backstroke across the water.

Aeris smirked. "Someone has an admirer."

"I do not!" Yuffie protested. "He was creeping me out."

"Oh," Tifa mumbled. She thought for a while. "Was he doing anything other that just looking?"

"No." The reply was tired. Yuffie looked exhausted and confused.

"He probably didn't mean any harm, then," Aeris waded over to the young ninja. "I'm guessing you didn't go over and talk to him."

Yuffie shook her head and frowned. "What good would that have done?"

The flowergirl shrugged. "You could have asked him why he was staring. Maybe gotten to know him a little."

The short-haired girl sputtered and turned away. She crossed her arms on the edge of the pool and set her chin firmly on them, resolved not to look at either of the older women. They paddled over to her side of the pool to flank her. She did not budge.

"There's nothing wrong with going up and talking to someone, if you're interested." Tifa tried to encourage the girl.

Yuffie buried her face in her arms. "I'm not interested!"

The long-haired women shared another knowing glance. Tifa tilted her head, trying to catch a glimpse of Yuffie's face. "You know, we can understand if you're shy."

Yuffie splashed back and swam to the other side of the pool. "I'm not shy and I'm not interested! I just didn't want him looking at me!" She settled on the far side and turned her face away. "There's just no point to it."

Tifa caught Aeris' eyes again, but this time, neither of them knew what to make of the girl's comments. The quiet settled like a blanket. Tifa made herself busy scrubbing herself with the rough soap. Aeris settled back against the pool and studied the ninja girl. Yuffie was being unusually quiet. Aeris could not really blame her. She knew well enough how nervous male attention could make a girl, but Yuffie did not seem to have even a tiny smidgen of the pride that usually came with it. The look on the ninja's face was oddly like…resignation.

Aeris grew curious. "Was he cute?" Tifa sat up and grinned at the question. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"He was…Wutanese," the girl mumbled. That was a surprise.

"What's he doing here, then?" Tifa wondered.

Yuffie sighed. "He was following some old musician guy around. I think he's an apprentice or something."

"Oh," Tifa perked up. "He's with Sagara's group! My old master Zangan told me about him! I heard they're having some kind of welcoming party for Red or something like that. Wanna hurry up and go?" The ninja girl grumbled. "Come on," Tifa encouraged, "I promise I won't let anyone try anything funny." Yuffie did not move. "You can watch me try to teach Barret how to dance."

The girl did crack a smile at that thought. "What about Cloud?"

Tifa shook her head. "I don't know. He was pretty worn out when he got out of that cave Bugenhagen showed him."

Aeris nodded. "I don't think he'd care to move much, considering." The blond man had borne quite a few scratches and bruises when he emerged, though it was nothing serious. He had been quiet and thoughtful, but that was hardly new. He had at least seemed to be in better spirits than Red.

"I hope the celebration tonight cheers Red up," Tifa said as she passed Yuffie the soap. "I think he's looking a little blue."

"That's really something for a red cat," Yuffie quipped, then ducked under the water to wrangle the dirt out of her hair. The next time she caught somebody staring at her, she would not run to hide anywhere dusty.

"I don't know," Aeris murmured. "He seems more…at peace, somehow." No one answered. She shook her head to bring herself back to reality.

Yuffie bounced up out of the water and set the soap down on tray. "I'm out of here! See you later!" She sprang out, grabbed the one of the robes the locals had provided and hurried up the tunnel, dripping wet. Tifa shook her head at the girl's back.

"Doesn't she feel wet?" She waded over to sit by her friend. "How about you? Busy day?"

Aeris gave the woman a small but heartfelt smile as she nodded. She could not lie to someone who had come to know her. "Pretty much." She kicked out and listened to the ripple her feet made at the surface of the water.

"Too tired to go up and listen to some music tonight?"

Aeris considered. "I don't know. I don't think I'm too tired, really." The truth was she really did not feel like dealing with a crowd. That healer had offered to finagle something special out of his Master for her, though. It would be a shame to make him go through effort on her behalf if she was not there to appreciate it.

"You should come out, if you're up to it," Tifa encouraged her. "I'm sure if anyone can get Cloud to try dancing, it's you." The barmaid quashed the tightness inside her, that she likely could not do the same herself. She would be happy for Cloud, really, she would, and be happy for Aeris too.

"I'll see," Aeris murmured and took the soap. The lather was carried away by the current almost as fast as she could make it. "Tifa?" Aeris was almost surprised that she had taken that first step. "How far is too far?"

The question startled Tifa a bit. "What …what do you mean, exactly?"

Aeris continued without even looking at her. "If…you want to be with someone, just how far is too far?"

Tifa stared at the dim shape of her legs below the water. This was probably the last kind of question she had expected from someone like Aeris. Tifa knew what her mother would have said, but she could not bring herself to voice that answer, not given the look on the flower girl's face. "I can't answer that question for you, Aeris. It's really your decision." Aeris nodded mutely and Tifa could only guess at what was going on inside her friend's head.

The barmaid took a risk. "He's not…he's not pushing you or anything?" Just the thought of Cloud acting like that, insistent, perhaps a little demanding…Tifa did not know whether to be outraged or intrigued. The Cloud she knew had a shyness that was too much like apathy for him to be so bold. He avoided trouble for the most part until it got in his face, but he was so changed since joining SOLDIER.

Aeris shook her head. "No, not really." She nibbled her bottom lip lightly. "I mean, I know what he wants, but it's not like he's forcing me or anything." She turned away to hide a blush, hardly the first for the day.

Tifa could barely breathe. She had no idea that matters had progressed that far. She shook her head. That was none of her business. Aeris made no effort to say anymore and Tifa found the new quiet distinctly uncomfortable. She keenly felt that she should say something, but she could not think of anything appropriate. Even if she could, she was not sure if her voice would cooperate. She was glad there would be festivity tonight, a crowd she could lose herself in and music to make her forget.

"I think I'll get going. I don't want to miss a thing." She rose out of the water and reached for her towel. "Are you going to be okay down here by yourself?"

"I'll be fine." Aeris' voice seemed a little flat.

Tifa shot the girl a smile anyway as she tied her robe. She fiddled nervously with the sash. "Aeris," she said cautiously. "It's all about when you think you're ready." Even before the words left her lips they sounded ridiculous, practiced to her. She saw Aeris nod out of the corner of her eye. The flower girl was obviously not paying much attention to anything. "Don't stay too long," Tifa cautioned and took one of the torches from the entrance to light her way up.

"I won't," Aeris said quietly. She watched her friend leave and kept her eye on the tunnel long after the receding shadow had passed. Tifa's words stayed with her. It was her decision. Sephiroth had said it himself. He would wait until she was ready.

Aeris feared that she was.

She had felt it the last night she had spent in his arms. A night apart from him had been too much already, and now, with the weight of all she knew pressing against her…she did not want to be alone anymore.

She shook her head. As much as she wanted to find the man, she could not leave. There was only one way out and that would mean crossing the crowds at the celebration tonight. Aeris rethought her plans for the night. Perhaps it would not be so bad to go out a bit and celebrate with the inhabitants. There would be music and dancing and she could talk to all the people she had met that day. Maybe if Cloud felt up to it, she would dance with him. The poor boy always did look as if he needed more fun in his life. She could see it now, Cloud refusing her first request with a worried frown and a poor excuse, then grudging acceptance to mask the shyness. He would enjoy himself eventually.

Something bumped into Aeris' shoulder and startled her out of her reverie. She looked over, alarmed, to see something pale floating by her. She could not believe what it was at first and it almost slipped away. She sprang and caught it and was relieved to find that her eyes had not deceived her.

It was a flower, creamy and white. She cupped it in her hands and studied it. It was a simple thing with only a few petals and those, thick and shiny, made to hold water. The flicker of life within it was weak, as if it had fallen from its bough quite a while ago, and it bore translucent bruises from its journey. Aeris watched the way the water pooled in the center, cupped gently in the bowl the petals formed. It was beautiful. The girl lifted the blossom out of the water. There was still the ghost of a scent to it.

Aeris brushed the petals against her chin and remembered other flowers she had found on her path. The one she held in her hand was as pale as the one who had left those others for her to find. She could not stop her hand from shaking as she slid it into her hair. She looked around at the empty bathing cavern and felt the weight of the world pressing down on her again. She could not stay here.

She climbed out of the pool and worked quickly with the towel before grabbing her robe and a torch to light her way up. She did not know where she would go or what she would do with herself. She hurried up the path anyway. Her wet feet slapped against the stone as she ran.

The tunnel from the pools led upwards in a swirling path to a nexus which led to anywhere at all in Cosmo Canyon. Aeris had to stop for a moment there to decide which way to go. She had learned the place well enough today and knew where most of the paths led. This one led to the inn, where she would go if she was sensible, to get her clothes and perhaps some rest. That one led to the library, where she would be free to spend the night in solitary scholarship, if she so desired.

The one directly to her left eventually led outside where even now, the crowd would be gathering. Red would be playing with the children. Tifa would be sitting close to the dais, admiring the music. The Elders would be cheerful. The families would be happy. And the couples would dance.

Aeris could not suppress the longing that welled up in her at that thought. She brought one hand up to touch the flower woven through her hair. This was all she could have tonight. There would be no dancing for her.

Even as she stood debating her path, a soft rhythm reached her. There were drums outside and her heart leapt in time with their sound. The keening sound of stringed instruments pierced the air and set Aeris' blood rushing. There was something terribly familiar in that music.

The rhythm increased and seemed to rise from the very stone to pulse through the young Cetra's body. Melody and harmony wove their intricate dance upon her soul. There was temptation, the promise of freedom and release in that layered sound. It invited her to seek her happiness. Aeris longed for comfort and companionship. Out there, she could shed the weight of her solitude. She took one step towards the influx of cool night air.

The triumphant rush that accompanied her first step nearly brought her to her knees. Aeris stopped and put one hand to her chest as if she could beat her heart into submission. Her happiness could never be out there, in that mad throng. What joy she could take from such a place would transient and shameful. Aeris fled the hall.

The torch she carried with her flickered as she ran. It cast eerie shadows at her feet and did little to light her way. She sought to run as far away from that easy temptation as possible. There was only one person who could soothe the ache inside her and if she could not have him tonight, she would go where she was sure to be left alone.

The music followed her down the tunnels, though it faded fast. Aeris' feet hit the ground in perfect time to the fading rhythm. She nearly ran headlong into the wall at the end of the tunnel, where an old rope ladder still hung to the ground. She stopped, gasping heavily.

It took a few minutes for her heart to cease its merciless pounding, for her blood to slow its coursing, but the fiery longing that had tormented her before was gone now. The Planet's voice rose in seamless accompaniment to the remnants of the music from outside. The sharp strains were muted to a song of wordless encouragement. Aeris understood. The decision was hers, to seek her joy where she would. There would be no insidious outer influence, no outside force or pressure.

It took no more than a minute to send the torch up the rope. The shadows the flame cast grew smaller and fainter as the light moved up to the ceiling. The stone above Aeris' head glowed a deep gold color from the light, making the dim ground she stood on seem desolate in comparison. She grabbed hold of the rope ladder and began her ascent. Here, at least, she could be at peace. She swung herself forward and entered the room where the Planet sang.

It was dark inside. She could see only the shapes of the windows and the patches of dim light they left on the floor. If she listened, the song of the celebration still reached her, echoing through the thin desert air to find her. Aeris let it sink through her. It was a lovely sound. She kept listening as she drew the ladder up after her. The sound still made her body pulse with need for the fulfillment she had denied herself. Her skin still begged for the thrill of another's touch, but here, she would be at peace.

Aeris took the torch from its hold outside the room and turned to find the sconce just inside the doorway. She had to tiptoe to reach the bracket on the wall. She stretched upwards in an attempt to place the blazing torch in its bracket but she was still a few scant inches short. She stretched harder and gritted her teeth, eager to get the heat of the flame away from her, but she struggled with the task.

Something wrapped around her waist. She did not even have time to cry out before a strong arm lifted her off the floor. She set the torch in the sconce and held her breath as her hand fell to the arm around her. The body at her back was warm and familiar. She felt every single solid inch of it as she was lowered gently to the floor. Her knees almost failed to support her when she landed and she would have fallen if not for the person holding her up.

Aeris turned to meet Sephiroth's eyes. There was a warm fire in them. Aeris smiled and wrapped her arms tight about his waist. She buried her face against his bare chest and felt his own tightening embrace. She did not care how he had come to be there, only that he had. She held him tighter, as if to reassure herself that he was real. She felt his chin come to rest upon her head and she sighed with content. This was so much more than she had hoped for tonight.

She let him sway her gently, losing herself in the motion. She closed her eyes and let herself just feel. He was warm and real and she could hear his heart beating. She loved the way he held her, how he stroked her hair as he moved in time to the slow, distant rhythm. The touch of his hand along her body soothed her immensely. This was beautiful. It was a dream.

She idly ran her hands along his back in response. His skin was so smooth and the body within it firm and powerful. His hair brushed against the back of her hand like light silk. She felt him press a gentle kiss against the top of her head. She murmured contentedly and relaxed in his firm grip. Her hands slid lower along his body. When her fingers did not meet a belt her eyes flew open with realization.

The awareness that he was naked seeped quickly into her mind and became a sharp shock. How could she have ignored this? Even now she felt the maleness of his body pressed against her. She let go and stepped away, surprised.

At the first sign of Aeris' distress, Sephiroth opened his arms and let her go, but he could not bring himself to step back and give her space. He had come too far tonight for this. He did not mean to frighten her, but by the Planet, he would not drive her away this time. He stood before her, still within arm's reach, and waited. Let the next move be hers.

She had her face turned up to meet his, but her gaze seemed very far away. The way she breathed through parted lips drew him in. He tilted his head to the side as he recalled their softness and envisioned claiming them with his own. His slight movement brought her back to herself. He saw the exact moment when her eyes focused and how she resolutely kept her eyes from straying any lower than his chest. He made no move to approach her. All he could do was study the lines of her face and the curves of her robe-clad body.

He almost lost his control then. He recalled the feel of her back beneath the fabric, the smooth, unbroken line his hands had traveled. Though the robe was of a dull dun color and covered more of her than her dress did, there was something in that simple garment that made her positively alluring. Perhaps it was the deep plunge down her chest where the folds of it overlapped each other, or the fact that the thing was secured with only a simple, tempting tie. It may have been the sure knowledge that beneath the thin cloth, her body was completely, absolutely bare. Sephiroth forced himself to stay where he was, though his fingers itched to reach for the knot of the sash.

She looked straight into his eyes then, as if sensing his discomfort. The light from the torch lit her honey-brown hair with a golden halo. Sephiroth was not sure how much longer he could bear just looking. He watched the way her chest moved as she took a step towards him, closing the gap between them. He almost forgot to breathe. She looked up at him with such wide green eyes. There was a hint of nervousness there, but also trust and a deep, deep longing.

He reached up to touch her and was surprised to see his hands trembling. He cupped her face gently with both hands, almost afraid that he would crush her with his strength. She was so fragile. He bent his head low and tenderly kissed her forehead. Her damp hair bore a familiar scent and his fingers touched the smooth petals of a pale blossom as he trailed light kisses over her face. She surprised him by surging forward to catch his lips with an eager cry. He could not resist.

He pulled her in close to his body and nearly devoured her with his desire. Her arms tightened around his neck and he welcomed the sensation. His hands had a will of their own, roaming up and down her slender form, learning each curve, caressing and claiming every inch of her that they could reach.

She did not protest when his hands slipped forward to work at the knot that held her robe closed. She did not even seem to notice. His skilled fingers made quick work of it and he kept his mouth pressed against hers all the while. Gods, but she was sweet and tonight he wished to taste her to his hearts content, if she would let him. He tugged firmly on the strip of cloth and felt it yield. He began to guide the soft cloth off the girl's shoulders.

Aeris broke the kiss and stepped back, gasping for breath. Her hands came up to hold the robe closed across her chest. The cool night breeze that rushed in through the window slid across her bared shoulders. She looked away from the tall man, though he made no move to restrain her. She needed time to slow her pulse, to catch her breath, to think things through.

She almost laughed in her confusion. Her body ached from the loss of his touch and the air was cold against her. How many times would she reconsider at the last minute and give up her chance at happiness? She looked down at herself. The robe risked slipping open for any move she made. She felt glowing eyes upon her form and grew acutely aware of how bare she was beneath the cloth.

She glanced quickly up at the silver-haired man. His chest was heaving and his skin was tinted a pale, warm gold from the fire's light. His lips were reddened from kissing and the glow in his eyes was almost hungry. What good was it tormenting him with this indecisive dance? What good was it to her? He looked at her with such warmth and so much compassion.

The decision was hers, she understood, when she would accept the comfort and release he offered and gift him with hers in return. It touched her then, to see this powerful man standing before her, servant to her wishes. She loved him for waiting. She would not make him wait anymore.

* * *

**A.N:** Written to 'Flames' by Vast.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Sixteen**

In a wide, curved room at the top of a stone tower, a young woman stirred in the early morning. Her hand trailed across soft sheets as she sought her lover. Her fingers found nothing but the edge of the thin mattress and the rough rope over the bed frame beyond it.

Aeris sat up, confused and blinking in the bright whiteness of the sun. Some instinct of modesty took over and she pulled the sheet up over her chest as she looked around the room.

It was empty. The rope ladder was still tucked up securely in its hold, but her lover was gone. Aeris stifled a fledgling burst of hysterical laughter. He was gone.

The cold light flooded its way across the light etchings on the floor, seeking to banish the dark shadows where anything could hide. It was more glare than heat at that hour. The room was beyond empty now. It was stark and bare and silent. The girl drew the sheets in closer around her.

Images of the previous night's madness came to her in flashes. It seemed so far away, so unreal, now. She wondered if she had not just dreamed the whole thing. She let the sheets slide down her nude form and whimpered as the cloth, fine as it was, stung her body. She looked down at herself.

Vivid red marks blossomed all over her pale skin. Her breasts were a mass of love bites and their bruised peaks protested the caress of cool air. Aeris could barely breathe. Her shoulders, her arms and even the skin at her hips all bore the tracks of her errant lover. There was more too, a distinct soreness between her thighs.

Aeris glanced at the doorway to reassure herself that nobody could enter. The robe she had shed the night before lay in a limp heap on the floor. Aeris gave a small cry at the pitiful sight. She rose ponderously from the bed to retrieve it. She put the thing on and tied it doubly tight, but still it did not come as high up around her throat as she would have liked. She clutched the deep neckline closed with one hand and bit back threatening sobs.

She stepped cautiously over the floor to the large window that overlooked the gorge. She leaned out cautiously, modesty forgotten as she gripped the stone's edge with both hands. The sight made her dizzy and she had to turn away quickly or risk a fall. In the brief glance she took, there was nothing unusual. She shook her head at herself. What had she expected to find?

Aeris turned and looked around the room. The only thing of note was a crushed flower on the floor. She stumbled over to the bed, desperate for a place to sit down. She froze at the edge and gripped the headboard. Her other hand unconsciously tightened its grip on her collar. She trembled as she stared.

There was a dark spot in the center of the bed, not very large, but irregularly shaped and ragged at the edges, as if it had tried but could spread no more. It was the burnt red shade of dried blood.

Aeris swallowed and passed a hand down her body, letting it rest below her navel. She had not realized that she had bled at all, last night. Her hands fell to her side and her trembling stilled. If she had any doubts left at all about her actions, here was proof enough to dispel them. The realization washed over her being like ice water and numbed her nerves to the shock that had come from waking alone.

She shook her head again as she stared. There was a spot on the sheets, evidence of what she had done for any and all to see. She had slept in someone else's room, had invited her lover to take her right there on that very bed and now everyone could see, would know instantly, what she had done.

She stole a glance at the pale sky through a side window. It was still early. Most of the community would still be abed, especially after the previous night's festivities. The tunnels would be empty and with luck, the lower halls would be deserted.

Aeris did not waste time thinking about what she did. She ripped the sheets off the bed and tossed them out the door. She did not even pause to watch them billow on their way down before she lowered the ladder. She descended hurriedly with no mind for how the ladder swayed. As soon as her foot touched ground again, she scooped up the soiled bedclothes and ran.

She met no one in the hallways, no one to question her destination or her motives, but she kept running as if the minions of hell themselves gave chase. There was no music to guide her steps now, no lilting Planetsong, only the cold silence of a cave's early morning and the sound of her bare feet on the stone.

She picked the routes that led further down, deeper into the Planet's belly, and slowed only when the air around her grew thick and moist. She hurried past the streaming water and barely spared a glance at the partly-hidden pools that served for bathing. She stopped only when she reached the shallow rivulet that was set aside for washing. She flung her arms out fiercely and let the sheets unfurl on their way down to the water.

Aeris stood breathless for a moment and contemplated the sodden white shape at her feet. The offending spot of dark was nearly hidden by the rippling water. The torches here were burning dim and low. It was some time before she could discern much more than the sheets. She glanced over her shoulder. There was no one around, behind or beside. If she hurried, she could make quick work of it and keep her secrets to herself.

She got to her knees and pulled the sheets in with the strength that comes from an anxious need. They were water-laden and heavy now but Aeris paid no mind. She leaned far out over the water to free the folds from rocks. Her sleeves were soaked and the front of her robe fell partly open, exposing the rose-colored marks on her skin. She did not care. There was work to be done.

She gathered up the stained portion of the sheet in her fists and scrubbed them together in the stream as best she could. She beat the offending mark against the flat rocks as she had seen the Canyon women do. The color seemed to fade a bit at first, but it soon grew stubborn and resistant.

Aeris lost track of time as she fought with it. She did not care that her hand grew as sore as the rest of her, or that her fingertips wrinkled like raisins under the constant stream of water. All she heard was the slap of wet cloth on stone and the racing thud of a guilty heart.

"Stubborn spot?"

Aeris jumped. She clutched the tell-tale mark tight in a poor attempt to hide it as she turned to seek the speaker.

The healer she had met before in the hallway stared down at her with a basket in his hands. His eyes did not leave her face and he did not say a word. Aeris felt time stretch unbearably. She did not move, was almost unable to, in fact, frozen by her own guilt at being caught. Under the man's smoke-green gaze, she grew aware of the little things she had previously brushed aside, the way her hands did not cover all of the incriminating stain, how her robe dipped deeply, baring ravished flesh. She swallowed.

The man took a breath and knelt beside her with a straight face. He looked aside for a moment to set his basket down. Aeris used the moment to look away. She ducked her head in a shame she could not explain.

"Did something happen?" The question barely rose above the rushing water.

Aeris breathed shallowly. Her throat seemed closed up, but there were no words she could think of to explain her behavior anyway. Only when she realized that there had been no sound but rippling water for some time did she dare to look up.

The young healer had not moved. His gaze was knowing, but not severe. He waited patiently for an answer and there was no judgment on his face. Aeris felt the resolve that had brought her down here crumple. It was easy to forget how this one had made her nervous before.

"He…he left me," she forced the words out. "Alone." She closed her eyes against the pain of that admission. The echo of her voice hung in the air and made it all brutally real.

"Did he now," the healer said, not really needing to ask. "Just up and left without a word?" Aeris nodded and let the wet cloth slip from her hands. She felt slender arms go around her shoulders and leaned willingly into them. A strangled sob escaped her, but there was no more.

"There now, shhhh," the dark-haired healer whispered. "It will be alright." Aeris felt a hand gently rubbing her back. He seemed frail and his embrace was not the one she had come to crave and even rely on, but it was comforting, and warm. Her shoulders hitched once as the memory of a cold awakening returned.

"Don't cry, little sister, don't cry," the man whispered. "Anyone who would abandon you is not worth your tears." His voice soothed her and she was able to pull away on her own.

"Better now?" the healer asked. She nodded. "Good," he said briskly. "Why don't you go take a warm bath before anyone else comes down and let me handle this, okay?" He indicated the sheets with a toss of his head.

Aeris blinked at him. "Are you sure?"

The healer nodded. "I know a thing or two about tough stains," he said, reaching for his own basket of linens and bandages. "Comes with the job. Go on, don't worry. I'll leave them here for you when I'm done."

Aeris smiled her gratitude at him and took a step towards the bathing areas. She paused under the weak torch and turned back. "Um, you won't tell anyone, will you?"

The healer smiled and shook his head. "Doctor-patient confidentiality."

Aeris thought about the healer's words as she sank up to her chin in the lukewarm water. _Not worth her tears_…That seemed about right. She had offered a precious part of herself to that silver-haired man, because she knew he had wanted it. It was something rare and valuable she had given him, something she had been taught all her life to guard. What had possibly come over her to make her forget such lessons? She had been warned about such trickery but still, after all his care and sweet words, all the gentle kisses and heated touches, she had been persuaded. She had actually thought he cared for her and would treasure her gift.

Instead, he had taken what he wanted and left her cold. Not a word or a kiss goodbye. It appeared that he had not even pulled the covers over her before he left. And there had been no reason to leave this morning. They had been safely hidden away from the rest of the world and plainly out of reach. It was not as if he had been surrounded or threatened. If he had proper reasons for leaving, they defied any logic she could see.

She rubbed her bruised skin lightly beneath the water, eager to wash all traces of his scent from her. She washed everywhere that he had touched and scrubbed herself free of any trace of him, heedless of how she aggravated her sore body.

The bites on her body could not be left to bear witness to his triumph over her womanhood. The florid bruises trailed all they way up her throat. There was no way she could cover them, not without drawing attention. Aeris' narrowed her eyes and grated her teeth at the thought of him gloating over what he had wrung from her. There would be none of that. She would never let him see how his leaving had wounded her. He had taken satisfaction enough from her already.

She felt her skin flush with some fierce emotion and had to fight against that torrent to sink into the clarity of focus she needed to heal the bites and bruises on her skin. She would not bear those reddened blotches as if she were a tree he had passed by and scored to mark his way. She drew the energy from deep inside her. One rush and her skin was even cream again, flawless and pale.

_Not worth her tears_. That was exactly right. Inside her, where there had been smothered hurt before, there was a fresh, bubbling rage. That glowing-eyed bastard was not worth her tears! She took a breath and threw her head back before she could stop herself.

"DAMN HIM!"

The healer paused over the laundry and glanced up at the ceiling as a wild, angry cry echoed down the hall. "Fiery, that one," he remarked to the overhanging rock and went back to his task.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud tried not to look too openly pleased as he made his announcement. "They said they've finished fixing the buggy." He stood, itching to get behind the wheel again. "Shall we get going?" The rest of the group rose from the bonfire dais. Cloud thought he saw Yuffie rolling her eyes at him, but that did not matter. She was not driving.

Aeris brushed herself off and carefully hid the determination in her eyes. Her eyes sought out one of the group, one who would not be continuing with them. "So," she said, approaching her furry, friend, "this is it, Red XIII." At another time she might have asked him to reconsider, but everyone made plans according to their own agenda. She knew that now. The animal ducked his head shyly as she patted his nose. His fidgeting tail was his only response.

Barret approached the red beast from the side. "That's just the way it goes... You came in handy at times."

Cloud nodded sternly to Red XIII as he passed, his only concession to comradeship. The others fell in line, some more eagerly than others. Aeris noticed Tifa cover a yawn as she walked and guessed that the other woman had enjoyed the music she had been so eager to hear.

They were close to the carved stairway that led out of Cosmo Canyon when a voice stopped them. "Wait for me!" Red came bounding after them. "I'm coming too!"

"Huh?" Cloud scratched his head, confused by the sudden turn of events. He looked up to see Bugenhagen drifting serenely towards the group.

"Cloud, please look after Nanaki." The Elder stayed just long enough to see Cloud nod dumbly, though he threw a wink and a knowing smile Aeris' way when he turned. Aeris smiled back serenely, bolstered inside by a seething, invisible rage.

Cloud scratched his head and looked at Red XIII. "What happened?" Red's tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.

"I think I grew up a little. That's what happened!"

Aeris watched him bound down the stairway and turned for one last look at the high plateau of Cosmo before she followed. For better or for worse, she had grown up a little here too.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud pressed back into his seat. His lips were pursed and his expression was grimly blank, as if he was trying to lose himself in the smooth purr of the motor. There was a tension in him that would not leave. Tifa read it in the lines of his body, the set of his eyes, his grip on the wheel. She felt it too, though she did not say a word. She kept her arms wrapped tight around herself and leaned to one side of the passenger seat. Things were at a critical point now. Their destination was the ruins of Nibelheim.

Tifa stole another glance at Cloud. She could think of no way to broach the subject, not now, after being silent for so long. What would it be like seeing that spiky yellow head moving through a field of blackened beams?

Cloud had spoken of it so knowingly. She could almost believe that he had really been there himself. But she had not seen him. No one had. It did not make sense. There was virtually no way he could know what he did if he had not been there himself. Shinra had never revealed the truth behind their Great SOLDIER's demise and Nibelheim had always been a secluded little town. Cloud might really have been there if he knew what had happened, but where had he hidden himself the whole time? What had happened to him that was so bad he could not remember it?

Tifa leaned against the door of the buggy and stared out the window. She caught herself nibbling the soft flesh of her inner cheek, a nervous habit she had had since childhood. She forced herself to stop and withheld a sigh. Tifa wished she understood Cloud's instinct for finding Sephiroth. They had no choice but to trust it the entire journey, and it undoubtedly worked, but that only made it more mysterious. Sometimes it seemed that they had done nothing but ask question after question since leaving Midgar. Cloud's instinct was leading them to Nibelheim now. Perhaps there would be answers there.

The buggy was unusually quiet on this trip. It seemed Cloud's tension had infected the entire group, or at least muffled the usual clamor. Barret could not argue over the map with Cloud if the blond was not speaking at all. Aeris gazed out a window and kept her own council. Even Yuffie was barely doing more than tapping her foot every now and then.

Tifa was infinitely grateful when Cloud stopped driving to let everyone out for some fresh air. The buggy's occupants rushed out like spilled wine, spreading quickly away from the center. The barmaid stretched up to the sky and worked out the kink in her back that had come from an odd sitting position. She felt her spine pop and rocked back on her heels in satisfaction before looking around.

Cloud had whipped his sword out and was making a few practice swings. Yuffie was wandering around rather aimlessly. Tifa was grateful that the girl was no longer intent on prodding Cait Sith. She really was not in the mood to deal with the complaints. The little toysaurus seemed to be keeping his own company some distance away. Tifa caught Barret watching the mechanical cat too.

Only Red seemed at peace. What he had learned in his desert home seemed to have put him at ease with himself. He was running in a wide circle in the grass, chasing butterflies, of all things. Tifa did sigh then. This field was so green and peaceful. It was hard to believe that it lay not far from the site of so much death and destruction.

Tifa rubbed her stomach without thinking. She felt the thin lines of an old scar and shivered. The madman they chased had almost cut her in two back then. By all rights, she should be dead. There was no reason that she should be standing outside what was left of her small mountain town now, healthy and hale. She thought of her father, lying dead in the reactor, to her, the symbol of all she had lost.

She knew he would not have asked for vengeance. He would have wanted her to live her life the best she could, but this was bigger than his shadow now, bigger than she was, even bigger than Shinra. It was hard to believe that Sephiroth was still alive and somehow, still walking around and as insane as ever. She had not truly believed it till they had seen him on the ship to Costa del Sol. She traced the old wound beneath her clothes with one hand. It was a long slope down. She could only hope she would fare better this time.

Cloud finished his drill with a flashy twirl of his sword and sheathed the thing at his back. Tifa watched him return determinedly to the buggy and began to walk back herself, ready to get moving again. Cloud got to the buggy before she did but surprisingly did not go to the driver's seat. He popped open the trunk and began searching around.

"Looking for something?" she asked as she neared him.

Cloud looked up. Tifa did not think she would ever get used to seeing those blue eyes luminous with a Mako glow. She held herself back as Cloud gave her a sad little stare. The beautiful glow could not hide the pain and hurt in those ocean-blue eyes.

"Tifa," he said softly, "I'm hungry. Where's the food?"

At first, she could only stare at him. Then she sighed and smiled as she reached for the pack in the trunk. "It's in here. There are fresh sandwiches from the Canyon, better get to them first." She sorted through the bag's contents, reaching for the bundles of fresh food, neatly wrapped in paper and mixed in with vacuum-sealed travel rations. She handed one to Cloud and dug around for the rest. Her smile became a grin at the way the blond looked up in gratitude as he wolfed down the first bite. Tifa called over her shoulder to the others. "Lunchtime!"

Yuffie perked up and ran. Barret and Red came in behind her. Cait Sith did not move, of course, but neither did Aeris. Tifa distributed the food before taking a sandwich herself. It was so easy to slip into her old hostess role.

Barret seemed to be racing with Cloud to finish eating first. Cloud won the first round and dug through the bag for another sandwich. "Got to hurry it up if we want to get where we're going by nightfall," he mumbled.

"Mmhmph," Barret made the sound with his mouth full. Tifa really could not understand men sometimes.

She called out as she unwrapped her package. "Aeris! Are you coming to eat?"

"In a minute," the girl called back. Aeris kept her back on her group and stared out across the field to the high mountain range not too far away. She did not need Cloud's instinct to tell her where to find a silver-haired swordsman.

She had been hurt by his leaving, but she would not admit it now, not to him, or anyone else. She knew the Cetra would likely be furious with her for her slip, but it was nothing compared to how angry she was with herself.

No, it was not her fault. He had spoken such sweet words to her, lies, all of them. Her degraded condition was his fault. He had deceived her, used her and cast her aside. She clenched her fists at her side as she stared unseeing at the mountains. Her anger became a wall to protect her from the pain.

She did not see how it isolated her from all she had held dear. She did not notice that the Planet's voice had dulled to a timid whisper and that she could not hear the voices of the Cetran Elders. It would not have mattered to her anyway. They had no words she wished to hear. All she knew was rage.

Avalanche would catch up to that marauder soon and she had every intention of confronting him. It did not matter who witnessed it or what they thought about it. This was none of their concern. She would get an explanation out of that green-eyed pirate if she had to beat it out of him with her staff. If he had reasons for his actions, she reflected, they had better be good. If they were not…

Her eyes glittered as she grated out a promise. "I'll strangle him!"

* * *

**A/N: **Rather short chapter, but it says all I want to say right now. The last one was over ten thousand words even edited. It will be a while before I try to pull that off again. For those who appear to have missed it, the **full version** of the last chapter is at mediaminer . org. Future edited chapters will be marked as such at the top and I will provide the url as best I can. Feel free to spank Seph for lovin' and leavin' if you want;)


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Seventeen**

The Shinra mansion was a cold dark place. What little natural light entered it had always been sickly. The tall mountains that rose up around the building cast their forbidding shadows on it. Long years of disuse had let those shadows grow down into the very foundation. The cold damp walls had borne witness to all the hate and pain within them. The air still bore the faint scent of death.

A lone figure stood at the top of the stairs, bathed in pool of insipid light. There were horrors here he had seen before, things he had learned and done. He reached up with one gloved hand to touch the window.

A flash of fire in his mind made him draw back. The screams echoed still if he listened too hard. He straightened and ground his feet into the floor, using the starkness of physical reality to anchor himself in the present. The past had no place here. It was gone. There were new problems now.

"_So_," a sibilant whisper threaded itself through the swordsman's thoughts. "_You left_." The man made no reply. The being in his mind slithered past his recent memories, pushing the ones he no longer wished to see closer to the surface. Sephiroth closed his eyes against the sickly glare from the window and shook his head as if he could actually rid himself from the intrusion that way.

"_Why the rush?"_ Mother continued. "_Just a few days ago I could barely convince you to leave the girl's side. What's changed so much that you would actually swim upstream to get away?_"

Sephiroth shivered and watched the specks of dust float idly by in a stream of light. Mother said nothing else, though she pressed harder against his delicate barrier of self. It was uncomfortable, acutely so, and if that barrier should ever give way, there would be nothing he could hide from her.

"I could not stay, Mother." The words spilled out and Sephiroth waited. He could not think clearly, had not been able to since waking, in fact, and with Mother so close against the tangle in his mind, there was no hope of unraveling it in peace.

"_Why not_?" Mother's voice, slimy and poisonous, slid along the many lines of snarled memory and feeling. "_Did she not seem as pretty as before once you'd had her? Was she no longer pure enough for you?"_

Sephiroth tightened every cord of his body to keep himself from shaking. The fleeting image of Aeris' restful expression haunted him still. Her hair had spilled around her like a dark waterfall. She had seemed so calm and even happy in her sleep. And he had left her without a word, or even a kiss goodbye. There had been no other choice that he could see.

It was interesting how Mother's words bore a seed of truth even though they were far off the mark. On awakening in the blackness before dawn, Sephiroth had become instantly aware that something in Aeris had changed. He had looked at her form and the smile she bore in her sleep and knew that all was not as it had been before. He felt it inside, but he could not tell what it was. The difference in her had unmistakably wrought a change in him and there had been no sane choice but to go away as far and as fast as possible.

"_Nothing left for the conqueror now, I suppose_," Mother intruded.

"Will you just-" Sephiroth choked on his rage to avoid provoking Mother. He forced the tension away from him. "I could not stay with her, Mother. That is all."

"_That is NOT all_," Mother snapped. "_What I want to know is WHY you left. After all this time, courting and cajoling, all the flowers and the stories and long walks, after all this effort, why did you leave?_" Her tone softened and she slithered around the weakened walls of Sephiroth's self to a more comfortable niche. "_I know you could not have desired her power so greatly as you claimed. You can never fool your mother. What I can't believe is that this was all you desired. One night, child? Just one night and you are satisfied? It seems such a waste of effort to me."_

Sephiroth's throat grew tight and he drew his brow down as if in pain. "No," he whispered. "That was not all I wanted." He quivered inside at the brief remembrance of a night under the trees, when he had promised Aeris forever. At the time he had been so sure that he could give her eternity if she wanted it. He did not trust himself to provide it now.

"_Why did you leave, then, knowing that you have endangered all your plans for the girl? How will she ever follow you with willing adoration now?"_

"It doesn't matter." Sephiroth turned from the window and walked to the stairs.

"_It doesn't matter_?" Mother howled. The swordsman gripped the railing and swayed under the onslaught. "_After all this time and effort you say it doesn't matter? Why the sudden turnaround, Sephiroth? What has she done to you? WHY DID YOU LEAVE?"_

Sephiroth stumbled down the short stairway to catch his breath on the landing. His chest ached more than his head for once, tight and hollow with what was certain to be an irredeemable loss. It had been so long since he had let anything come close enough to affect him this way, so long...

He saw Aeris again, calm and smiling in her sleep. She stretched and turned a bit, but did not wake. The sheet slid away from her body to reveal bruised flesh, blood red bites against pale skin. It was only a memory, transient, gone as swiftly as it had come, but Sephiroth still felt the surge that had sent him fleeing.

"_Why did you leave? Why did you leave?"_ Mother's voice became a constant noise, demanding an answer before it would go. "_Why did you leave?_"

Sephiroth swallowed. "I left...because I wanted to stay." His voice hung heavy in the dead air of the grand hall. Then Mother erupted.

"_THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"_

Sephiroth smiled wryly and leaned against the railing. Too much weight and it would give way and he would go falling to the ground below. Too bad a fall like that could hardly hurt him. A broken neck seemed like just the thing to cure his misery.

"That doesn't matter. Just let me be alone, Mother," he pleaded. "Everything is ruined now."

Mother rushed forward triumphantly. Her presence was like a bitter wind chilling every part of him that was still entirely his own. "_Quite likely. The girl will want little to do with you after the way you stole her maidenhood and ran."_

Sephiroth bowed his head and closed his eyes against that truth. Aeris must be so angry with him now, and so hurt at the way he had left, even if it had been for her own good. How could he ever get her to understand?

Always, when near her, he had somehow felt the weight of her presence, her slenderness, her sadness. Always, inexplicably, there had been the urge to calm her and offer her warmth and protection, no matter what his own plans had been before. Then came this wonderful, dreadful waking morning when that urge was gone.

It was not as Mother said, that Aeris seemed less desirable now that he had claimed her body. That was hardly the case. She was as tempting now as she always had been, but something was different. The swordsman had stared at her long and hard while she slept to convince himself of certain things.

Aeris was lovely, quite beautiful, yes, but there were perhaps others more glamorous, taller women with more pronounced curves and more skilful hips. For the first time since seeing the flower girl in the laboratory, Sephiroth had been able to allow himself that admission.

And it changed nothing. Aeris was still the only one he wanted, not for sheer beauty, but for the life that he now knew lay waiting behind closed eyes. The sharp, eager mind and the zest for living, her appreciation for everything she saw, those could not be so easily found elsewhere as a pair of pretty legs.

Sephiroth began to walk with his eyes shut. He kept a death grip on the railing to guide himself along, but he stopped at the first step and looked down. He would likely never see Aeris again, not the way he had before. She would hate him now and she probably thought he fully deserved it. He did, but only a bit, he told himself. He had done it for her, though she would never know now. He had done this last act for her safety, before the need to protect her left him entirely.

It was strange how such a thing could leave so quickly. Perhaps it was strange that such protectiveness had been in him in the first place. Thinking back, Sephiroth could barely understand his motivation. He had wanted her willing beneath him. That much was simple enough to understand. He had pursued. All along he had told himself that he needed to act as if he cared. At what point had that become real?

That was dangerous, for both of them. It really was for the best that he had left, before his truer nature, suppressed in a manner he had not suspected and could not understand, unleashed itself upon the unsuspecting woman. Aeris deserved better than that. His mind threw the image of her bruised flesh at him again and he shivered. He could not deny now how the urge to add to his night's work had nearly overpowered him.

"_So you wanted to stay, did you?"_ Mother's sudden question threw him off balance and he slid down the first step. He had to grab the rail tighter to steady himself again. _"Why didn't you? From what I gather here," _she brushed closer to Sephiroth's memories of the previous night than he liked, "_I don't think the girl would have objected."_

Sephiroth worked his way down the curving staircase, slowly, one step at a time, never letting go of the cold rail. It was cruel how mother pried into his affairs. Sometimes it felt like so little was left to him alone, but he could survive the loss of autonomy. He had lived long enough without the love of any parent.

There was a lump in his throat, it seemed. His chest grew so tight he could barely breathe. What did Aeris call what the two of them had shared? He had to stop then. There was too much inside him: Mother, memory, himself and now this deep unfamiliar ache that settled uncomfortably in his chest.

"I couldn't stay," he breathed out, shaking. "I couldn't stay. I couldn't."

"_Pull yourself together, Sephiroth_," Mother sneered. _"This is beneath you."_

Sephiroth bit his tongue to stop himself from babbling. He shook his head and continued down the stairs, breathing heavily. He was almost calm by the time he neared the bottom. He stopped and looked across the hallway. The light was dimming fast. Sephiroth slumped down to sit on the stair. He leaned his head against the rail. It would probably leave a mark on him, a fast fading red print. He thumped his head harder. The action was oddly soothing so he did it again.

"_Stop doing that, Sephiroth!"_

"Yes, Mother," he replied automatically.

"_Don't 'Yes, Mother" me, Sephiroth,"_ Mother snapped again. _"I still need answers from you."_

Sephiroth leaned forward with his arms on his knees, head bowed. "Answers about what, Mother?" He felt her gather herself in a corner of his mind. She drew herself up till he could feel her towering over him.

"_Since you can't give me a sensible reason for your flight, why couldn't you stay?"_

"I wanted her." Sephiroth sighed. "I still want her."

"_I know that,"_ Mother's voice was a bit exasperated. _"What I want to know is what made you leave? Stop going around in circles. Give me a straight answer!"_

It only took a moment for the swordsman to find his voice, but it was hoarse and very low. "I couldn't have her, not the way I want her." He shut his eyes again and tilted his head up to the ceiling. "I don't want to hurt her."

There was silence for a moment, within and without. Then Mother exploded into shrieking laughter.

"_So that's it?"_ She seemed to be halfway in hysterics. Sephiroth was shocked quiet. _"Well I know how you take your pleasure and though I don't care for your choice of partner, I wouldn't dream of telling a grown man how to carry out his affairs, but it's your own fault you're in this position now. I wondered how long you would be able to keep up the act."_

"It didn't seem so hard before." Sephiroth folded in on himself.

"_You should have been up front with her from the start! Then you wouldn't be in this situation now."_

"I was trying to _seduce_ the girl, Mother," he grated. "I hardly think my usual course of action would have been the best way to get into her pants!"

It was no use trying to make himself as small as possible on the stairs. He was too tall and large to make any kind of neat, huddled ball, but it did not stop him from trying. Mother was right. It really was his fault. The plan had backfired. He had won the girl with sweet words and kindness. That was what she expected from him. How could he ever be himself around her now? That would mean losing everything they had shared.

Poor Aeris. She was so weak and tender. She bruised so easily. Sephiroth fought the flicker of desire that thought aroused in him. Aeris was far too delicate to bear the brunt of his passion. He would not hurt the girl now, not after gaining her deepest trust. He sighed, thoroughly confused by that urge. He had barely given a damn about any lover before. Why start now?

"_What are you going to do now?"_ Mother asked.

Sephiroth weighed his options. "I will continue with the Reunion as planned, Mother. The puppet must be made to play his part. The others clones are so dependant that they're useless for the task."

Mother made a derisive sound. _"I meant what are you going to do about the girl?"_

Sephiroth sighed and bowed his head to study the way his hair trailed down the steps and past his boots. "I will leave her alone. For good." It was the safest route. For both of them.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A blond swordsman stood near a window on the top floor of a little inn and stared out at the darkening skies. He kept his arms folded tightly across his chest and made no movement beyond breathing. His stare turned from the sky to the wood of the window frame. He studied the wavy lines of the grain and the way the sill was not set quite flat in the wall. The sealant that held the glass in the window was uneven and the paint was thin.

"This is all wrong," Cloud whispered.

"I know." Tifa came up the stairs and stood beside him. She trailed one hand slowly across the poorly-constructed window frame. "There used to be a knot here. It's not here anymore."

Cloud studied her face. Her eyes were blank and unseeing. Perhaps the shock had been too much for her. It had been very bad for him. "Tifa," he began. She looked up. "I didn't lie. We didn't. It really happened, didn't it?"

Tifa crossed her arms, hugging herself. "It happened. I know it did." She whimpered a bit and looked out of the window. "I didn't...lie." She could not face Cloud as she said that. She knew what had happened at Nibelheim. Her father had _died._

Nibelheim was such a small, isolated town. No one Tifa had met since its burning had known the truth. For a long time she had thought herself the sole survivor and the only non-Shinra person to know the true story. But then she had come upon Cloud sitting out in the rain in a Midgar train station and somehow, he had known.

It did not make sense. How could he know so much when he had not been there? How was it that he always knew exactly where Sephiroth was going? Tifa shivered.

"Are you cold, Tifa?" Cloud did not even look at her as he asked. The woman shook her head.

"No. No, it's just that this place gives me the creeps."

Cloud relaxed at that. "Oh good. Well, no, not good really, but I mean I'm glad it's not just me. I mean, not glad, but well..."

"Relieved?" Tifa smiled at him. Cloud scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess so." He glanced around the corridor. "This place isn't right, Tifa. It's all wrong somehow. It's like everyone we knew never existed."

"I know." Tifa's voice cracked and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She scrubbed it away before Cloud could see. Coming back had been harder than she let on at first. This façade that Shinra had set up was a mockery of all that had been lost. Her friends, her neighbors, her father. And Cloud...truthfully his mother was the only person he'd had in their hometown, but he had lost all his family too. He had never spoken of his mother beyond the story of Nibelheim's burning.

"Those cloaked men wandering around don't make things any better," Cloud said grimly. "I want to know what this Reunion business is all about."

Tifa grimaced at the thought of the hooded men. "All those numbers...Where do you suppose they came from? And what do you suppose they are anyway?"

"I don't think I really want to know."

The light tread of someone coming up the stairs interrupted the conversation. Both jumpy from a day of shocking findings, Cloud and Tifa turned to face the newcomer. Aeris nodded curtly at them as she turned the corner.

"Are we going to catch up to Sephiroth tomorrow, Cloud?" The flower girl's spine was rigid and her tone was all business.

Cloud nodded once in response. "We will. Be sure of that. I know he's in the mansion."

Aeris absorbed that. "Far side of town, right?"

"Yes. I don't know what he's up to, but we've got to find out." Cloud looked from one woman to the next. "Better get some rest. It's been a long day for all of us and tomorrow's not likely to be easy."

Aeris smiled slyly at his tone. "Alright. Good night." She nodded a brief greeting to both of them and went into the room for the night.

Tifa yawned a bit. "She's got the right idea." The sky was not yet pitch black, but it had been a tiring day. "I'm turning in too."

Cloud nodded and followed. The women were right. Sephiroth had not moved. Cloud was sure he would have felt it. The mansion was dangerous. It was no place to take an exhausted team. As much as the day's discoveries fired Cloud's blood for answers, it would have to wait till tomorrow.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Tomorrow was not soon enough for Aeris. She had gone to bed as she had said she would, but she had not slept. The hours that passed were an exercise in patience. She had forced herself to lie still beneath the covers till the lights were out and all the others had stopped tossing. A chorus of even breathing now rang through the room.

Aeris slipped from bed and dressed quickly in the dark. She slid one hand down the front of her dress to be sure the buttons were aligned correctly and pulled her boots out from under the bed. She tiptoed past the row of sleepers, stepping quietly between the bedless ones stretched out on the floor. The door creaked a bit when she opened it. She slowed the swing and barred the light from the hallway with her own body. She slid sideways through the narrowest gap possible and shut the door tight behind her.

She sat on the step to yank her boots on. She had a hard time getting them over her heels. "Come on, you stupid, ugly things!" She gritted her teeth and forced them past. When she stood, her heart was pounding. She marched down the stairs, beyond caring if the sound carried into the room where her friends lay. She was on a mission. She had a destination and a target and when she found that man, she was going to rip his manhood off and make him eat it.

There was no one at the desk to question her or even note her going as she left the inn. Aeris stood on the doorstep and surveyed the town. The air was damp. The sky was brightly clouded. The moon was high above, just a sliver past fullness. Aeris took a deep lungful of cold air and started out on the path.

The streets were empty but even if they had not been, Aeris would not have given a damn. She was too busy planning exactly how she would beat the stuffing out of that arrogant bastard. She formed her spiteful speeches as she walked, all the while remembering the certain sly look he had sometimes worn in their early meetings. He would not be smiling when she got through with him. She would teach him to play with a girl's heart.

The air around her grew stiflingly hot and she stopped at the foot of the stairway to the higher grounds of Nibelheim. Her blood was boiling over and she knew she looked as ruffled as she felt. That would not do. She would not give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing how badly he had shaken her. She brushed her loose hair back with her fingers, then rolled her neck and shoulders back in a few stretching exercises she had learned from Tifa. The worst of the visible rage was gone.

The mansion gate was visible at the top of the stairs. It was not a long walk. Aeris stormed forward, never letting her eyes leave the dark wrought iron. Gravel crunched under her feet as she approached the gate. She was ready and more than willing to shake the thing apart to get in. The way it swung open with a mournful creak was a bit disappointing. No matter. More energy to smash Sephiroth's proud face in. For a while, she wondered if she should have brought her staff but then decided that it would be more satisfying to pummel the man with her own two hands.

"_Child, think about what you are doing?"_ The voices she had shut out for so long made one final, desperate plea. _"It's not too late to turn back! Don't lose more of yourself to that one!"_

"_This is not your concern,"_ Aeris grated out as she walked up the path.

The lone voice that had often comforted and defended her rang in the back of her mind. _"Daughter, please, reconsider. It is difficult, I know, but-"_

"Shut up!" Aeris slammed the door of her mind, closing her link to her ancestors and the Planet that pleaded along with them. She had chosen this course and would not be swayed. She stepped into the mansion's shadow. The heavy oak door would not move and at first, she worried that it might be locked. Aeris put her weight into it and the door grudgingly swung open. Without a thought for her well-being, she stepped inside.

At any other time, such a dark, dreary place would have stifled her spirit, but she was past caring about anything like that now. She glanced around the large room and spotted the trails of bright silver on the staircase before her eyes had fully adjusted to the dark. She took one step towards the seated figure. His wide eyes threw a startled glow upon the room. There on the dark step, he seemed impossibly pale. He did not move. Aeris advanced with her hands clenched at her sides and hate glittering in her eyes.

"YOU!"

* * *

**AN: **Uploaded for the third time because I keep making small changes. Sorry about any inbox flooding :( I'm glad I'm finally at the point when _all_ the reasons behinds Sephiroth's behavior are in the open. I tried all along to strike a balance between his brutal nature and a tenderness caused by an outside influence (Aeris' 'pheromones', mostly), but so many people questioned his soft behavior I have to face up to the fact that I failed. /bonks head on desk/ I'll try my darnedest to do better from here.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Eighteen**

The echo of Aeris' outburst seemed to hang in the air for much longer than it should have. Sephiroth felt it pass through him but he did not move. All he could do was stare at the raging woman before him and hope that she was only the figment of a guilty conscience. She took a step towards him and the way his heart constricted convinced him that she was well and truly there.

"Yes?" His quiet answer only angered her further. He saw the way her body tightened and her beautiful face contorted with something unholy.

"You left!" she said coldly. "Why?"

Sephiroth had heard that question far too many times already that night. He ducked his head down with a heavy breath and stared at the way his hair brushed his boots. Why did Aeris have to come here? The mansion was not safe for her. He was not safe for her. Her tension flowed out to him like an unfurling rope and bound his thoughts to her presence. His heart thudded hard and he closed his eyes against the pressure. He kept his breathing carefully slow. If he waited long enough, maybe she would go away.

She was still standing there with white-knuckled fists when he looked up some moments later. He shook his head slightly. Why had she come? Alone, too. He knew she had to be angry, but she could have at least waited till morning and come with the others. If she got too close to him now, there was no one to help her. As it was, he could barely look at her without remembering what she had felt like, acquiescent beneath him.

He forced himself to sit still on the stairs. Even angry, there was something enchanting about her, a fire and a rare defiance. He longed to trace her lips again, to feel her skin, her heat around him. Sephiroth turned away.

"_The girl's waiting for an answer_," Mother's voice rose quietly, weak but unmistakably present. Sephiroth stiffened at the intrusion. Either Mother was getting better at fighting Aeris' presence or the girl was losing her ability to drive Mother off. Maybe it had something to do with how he had woken to clearheaded violent desire that morning.

Sephiroth took the time to ponder it despite the two impatient females waiting for his answer. Mother was the more ruffled of the two. _"Sephiroth, the girl is waiting."_ It seemed that Aeris, at least, was willing to stare him down in silence. Her narrow green gaze was more chilling in that moment than Mother's light pressure on his mind.

"_Don't interfere, Mother,"_ Sephiroth sent the quiet reply. He did not wish to deal with his once-lover in his Mother's presence. There were some things a man was meant to handle alone. He felt Mother retreat, though he could never be sure how far away she was. He straightened to look Aeris straight in the eye.

"I had to leave," he said calmly. She did not seem impressed.

"I'm reasonably sure you had to." She sounded more calculating than Sephiroth had ever imagined she could be. "What I want to know is why."

The swordsman bristled. How dare this woman come before him demanding answers he could not give? He had done it for her too. He checked himself and choked the anger down. Of course she was angry. She did not know that he had done if for her sake. She had no idea what horrors he had spared her. If she knew, she would not be standing there before him with that righteous anger coiled inside her.

There was a wary confidence to the tautness of her body. She was like a snake reared back to strike if it had to, sure that it would strike true and triumph. Her skin bore a light flush of rage and Sephiroth could almost feel her racing pulse. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders. Normally he liked it that way but tonight, lit up by the weak gloom of the waning moon, it made her look like a half-wild creature, something to be captured and tamed. She had no idea what a temptation she presented. The poor thing.

The swordsman leaned to the side and braced his head against the railing. "Go back to your friends, Aeris," he said quietly. "There's nothing for you here."

There was a flash in her eyes as she took another step forward. Sephiroth tensed. "There's an answer here," she said slowly, "and I'm not leaving without it."

The man flinched visibly. Aeris was a stubborn one. He sat up slowly and looked her straight in the eye. He had to tell her something to get her to leave this place. He grasped for a suitable response but the image of her sank into him. He wanted to feel her raging beneath him. He needed to feel her struggle. The memory of her virgin cry rushed through him and he knew he had to hear her voice ring out like that again.

His hands tightened on the edge of the step. He had to keep himself from leaping forward. "I had to leave, Aeris," he said quietly, with no idea at all what he was saying. "I had to leave because I wanted to stay."

In the moment it took for Sephiroth to recall what his runaway mouth had said, Aeris appeared to be calmly considering the matter. He realized his mistake the same instant she drew breath to scream.

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"

It was bad enough that Sephiroth himself knew how ridiculous his words sounded. To hear his Mother's words flung back at him in his lover's voice was too much. He growled in disgust. "Take it or leave it, woman! It's all the answer you're going to get!" He gripped the rail again to keep himself from lunging at her. The fire in her was stoked to full blaze now and he was not doing much better. He blinked to shut out her image and slow his pulse.

When he looked up again he saw her running towards him with a feral growl. Perception slowed. He felt his heart thud, took a scant breath and waited for her. He saw her rear her hand back and knew that she would slap him. That was fine. He deserved at least that. If it would make her feel better, she could slap him all she wanted. He shut his eyes again with a wry smile and leaned into the blow.

What he did not expect was to feel the sudden crunch of bony knuckles on his mouth. His eyes flew open as his head was flung to the side. The room was a blur. He recognized the moving glint of a metal wrist guard a second too late. It cracked into his face as Aeris backhanded him with a violence he had not thought her capable of. He cried out at the impact and tasted salt and metal in his mouth. The shock wore off. He was under attack.

Aeris reared back for a third blow but this time, Sephiroth was ready. He rose from his seat with a growl and blocked her next swing with his arm. He saw her other hand move and caught her at the wrist with his free hand.

"You bastard!" She screamed and strained to get free. Sephiroth just held on to her for a while, still unable to believe that she had gone that far. "You son of a bitch! Let go of me!" She kicked him in the shin. That got his attention.

"Stop it, you crazy woman!" He snarled and flung her off him, remembering only at the last moment not to be too rough. She flew back, wildly flailing her arms to keep her balance. Sephiroth's chest heaved as he watched her totter back nearly all the way across the floor before finally succumbing to instability. She hit the floor with a thump and sat there glaring at him through the fine mesh of her untamed hair. She truly was a wild animal now, clawed, ferocious and stunning.

The swordsman almost sprang forward to finish what he had started, but the rush in his blood was reminder enough of the danger. He drew himself up to his full height at the foot of the stairs and stared down at the ravishing thing before him. He wanted to throw himself down on the ground with her and feel her straining against his body again.

He ran his tongue over his lips. There was blood there, just as there was inside his mouth where the soft inner flesh had split against his teeth. Sephiroth savored the taste even as he felt the tiny wounds close. He wiped his mouth with the back of one gloved hand. The blood there was deep red, vivid even against the black leather. He made a small sound of satisfaction and smiled down at the woman. Deep red would look good on her.

Aeris caught the man's look and locked stares with him as she rose. Her chest heaved in time with his, matching him breath for breath. The world fell away. She was not done with him. Damn him for looking so handsome, even bleeding. "Care to give me an answer now?" she dared.

Sephiroth laughed. "Do you really think a little wound like that would win you anything? I gave you my answer, Aeris. You'll leave now if you know what's good for you." He turned away from the alluring sight of her heaving bosom. He had to go upstairs now.

"_I _decide what's good for me!" Her voice filled the hall.

Sephiroth froze. Why couldn't the woman understand? Her every move set his blood aflame. She had to leave. He looked over his shoulder. "You don't have enough sense to know what's good for you."

Aeris glared at him. "So that's it?" Her voice was harsh and bitter in a way that cut Sephiroth to the core. "You don't have any real reason for using me like you did, do you? Not one good reason!"

Her echoing voice set off the memories of her impassioned moaning. Sephiroth felt the railing splinter in his grasp. He longed to grip the woman's bare arms that way and feel her flesh yield. He shook the image from his head. He had to get her to leave.

"That's right, Aeris." He still did not look at her. "I have no good reason. I take what I want and discard what's left. Now please, leave this place. You can come back with your friends to kill me in the morning."

"Bullshit," she grated out. "That's not good enough. I'm killing you myself and I'm taking a trophy when I'm done."

Sephiroth did turn then, near hysterical from the turn the situation had taken. Who knew Aeris had such a foul mouth when aggrieved? She was still standing in the same spot he had seen her, no less appealing than before. _"You're on perilous ground now, Sephiroth," _Mother hissed from the part of his mind he had thought was empty. "_Let her leave. Don't make things worse by keeping her with you. She is even more dangerous than before."_

"_I told you to stay out of it, Mother."_ Sephiroth stepped onto the tiled floor to face the tiny woman. "What makes you think you would be able to kill me alone?" he sneered. "You only made contact before because I let you and I guarantee you, I won't be doing that again."

Aeris took a step forward, flexing her fingers. "I don't need you to give me a chance. I'll rip you apart with my own hands if I have to!"

Sephiroth smirked and stepped forward. "It looks like you'll have to. You've brought no weapon." He could just smell her shampoo from this distance. "And you would be completely unable to reach me if I weren't sitting down!"

Aeris advanced. "I won't be aiming for your face."

That threat was more than Sephiroth could stand. He had given this feisty wench every chance he could. "You want to know why I left?" he raged. "I left because if I had stayed you would still be in that bed, on your back, begging me for mercy!"

The silence that took over was almost surreally pristine. Sephiroth was sure that he had only dreamt the past few seconds. He had not really said that. None of it was real. He watched Aeris' fury fade as it was replaced by a look he could not decipher. She took one more step towards him.

"What makes you so sure I'd be the one begging?"

Sephiroth knew a challenge when he heard it and he would not back down, not to this willful little woman. She had aggravated him long enough tonight. He closed the gap between them with heavy, deliberate strides.

Aeris watched him get closer. Her mouth suddenly grew dry and her hands began to shake. She leaned back but her feet seemed rooted in place. This man who approached her with blazing eyes was not the gallant suitor she had come to know. He was the lustful animal of any woman's dreams and he was magnificent.

She leaned into his arms as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a rough kiss. Teeth met tongue and all she could think of was how good it felt to have him touch her again. His hands claimed her flesh, grasping at all he could reach and gripping her brutally where she was most tender. She wrestled her hands up to bury them in the man's silver hair. She pulled at him viciously, directing him to her throat. The sharp nips he made at her skin were exquisite.

Sephiroth growled into the woman's neck. The feel of her, her scent, was overpowering. He traced her collarbone with his teeth up to the point where he remembered bruising her the night before. The skin there was pale and perfect, with not even a hint of the vivid signature he had left behind. He pulled away, furious that there was no sign of his work left on her body. Her chest pressed against him as she breathed. She looked up at him with a challenge in her eyes. Sephiroth pulled her tight against him and sank his teeth into her skin.

Aeris flung her head back and screamed. Sephiroth felt her throat move as the sound left her and picked her off the ground in triumph. She began to struggle in his grip and beat at his shoulders though she did not ask him to stop. Her flailing fists only spurred him on, but he refused to let her land any more blows than she had already. He grabbed her red jacket and yanked it down to her elbows, locking her arms in place behind her back. She screamed and shook violently in his grasp as she realized what he had done.

"You bastard! Let go of my arms!" She tried to free herself but her very struggle tangled the fabric more.

Sephiroth grinned at her as he carried her towards the stairs. "It's more fun this way." He set her on the broad banister and reached down to pull off her boots. He flung each one over his shoulder, not caring where they landed.

"What are you doing?" Aeris demanded. She tried to kick out at him but almost lost her seat. Only Sephiroth's grip on her ankles kept her from falling. He smiled at her. The glow in his eyes seemed to intensify momentarily before he ducked down and his silver bangs obscured his face from view. "What are you doing?" Aeris shrieked again. Then she felt his tongue working its way around her toes and she did not care anymore. Her demands and insults gave way to moaning.

Sephiroth glanced up from what he was doing. Aeris was flushed and gasping for breath. The longing etched across his face made the swordsman ecstatic. Here was proof of his skill. "Like it?" His voice was almost too smug and the look Aeris threw back at him bore some rage yet. She tried to kick him away despite her precarious seating, but Sephiroth would not have it.

He grabbed her right above the knees and pulled her legs apart. His fingers sank deep into the soft flesh as he buried his face in her thighs. Aeris writhed in his grasp, unable to throw him loose even if she wanted to. His lips and teeth and tongue were everywhere and his hands were working on the buttons of her dress. Aeris twisted with a cry as more of her skin was exposed to the air. Sephiroth stood and grabbed her around the waist. He needed something more stable than a railing for what he had in mind.

He carried her up the stairs and she fought against him all the while. He almost laughed. No matter how she struggled, they would do this on his terms now. He did not think she was aware of how much she was grinding against him, but he was thoroughly enjoying it. Perhaps it was a bit much for him. He only made it as far as the landing before instinct took over. He had to have her immediately.

She grunted as he pushed her up against the wall and held her there with his own body so he could yank his gloves off. Then he reached for the clasps of his coat. She kept wriggling her shoulders in an attempt to free her arms but with her arms pressed painfully against the wall there was not much she could do. Sephiroth pressed against her as he shrugged the coat off, grinning wickedly all the while. She tried to kick him again but he twisted deviously and slid between her legs, holding her thighs up around his waist. She groaned at the effort of trying to free herself. Sephiroth pushed himself hard against her. He knew she had to be able to feel him. "Don't pretend you're not enjoying this." He slid his hands under her skirt and felt how wet she was.

Aeris glared at him, partly in anger, but mostly in an undeniable desire. She locked her legs around him and surged forward to reach his throat. She bit him as hard as she could, eager to return his favor. The man cried out hoarsely and almost lost his balance. He pulled her away from the wall and tried to continue walking. There were bedrooms upstairs and he meant to reach the one with the big bed. It was not easy. Aeris was hardly a heavy woman, but carrying her was getting more difficult with the way her warm body moved against him. Her breath was hot on his throat and ear.

He took one step up, then another. He felt something fall near his feet but paid no attention to it. Unfortunately it turned out to be Aeris' jacket. She had finally worked it loose. Sephiroth tripped and fell. Aeris yelled as her back hit the stairs. Each separate ledge ground into her spine. She gasped from the pain and threw her hands across her eyes. Sephiroth was heavy on top of her and she could feel his every breath pushing her against the steps. She could barely breathe herself. She reached up to pull him off. His hair was easy enough to grab. He howled when she pulled it, but though he took most of his weight off her, he did not let go.

She pulled her hands back to hit him for falling on her, but he was quicker. He captured both wrists in one hand and pinned them over her head as he worked on the top buttons of her dress. She looked perfect beneath him, fiercely aroused and unable to help it. Sephiroth moaned and left her dress for the time being. His belt needed loosening first.

"_What are you doing?"_ Mother burst in. _"You can't seriously be doing this now? What happened to leaving her alone?"_

Sephiroth roared. How dare Mother intrude in this, when Aeris was ready and right beneath him? _"Go away, Mother!"_ Every fiber of his being shot the message to Mother. She clawed at his mind as he tried to push her out. He worked at Aeris' dress with his teeth to strangle the cry. The little woman had no idea what danger she was in. She was breathing hard beneath him, encouraging him in her few coherent moments.

"_I won't let you do this, Sephiroth!"_ Mother was adamant. _"She's turning your head and ruining your plans!"_

"_I told you to leave, Mother! This is my business!"_

"_You're just going to throw everything away for this harlot?"_

The swordsman was too far gone to pay any attention and Mother too pressed to say much more. Sephiroth took his chance. He pulled Aeris up off the floor and hoisted her over his shoulder like a captive. She yelled and struggled at such treatment, but the man was only further inflamed. Her dress, secured around her waist by only two buttons, flapped against his face and chest. Sephiroth grabbed the pink cloth and tore it from Aeris' body. She watched it fall as the man hauled her up the stairs. One of the buttons rolled down to the landing. The woman stilled at the sight.

Sephiroth turned the corner and kicked open the door to the bedroom. Aeris tried to turn to see where he had taken her. "Where are we? What are you doing?" Sephiroth threw her across the room. She gave a sharp scream as she flew and landed face down on a large, old bed. The bedsprings creaked under her weight. She pushed herself up on all fours with her back to the door.

Sephiroth stood in the doorway watching her move. Her position left her rear deliciously exposed. The sight was almost painful. He moved slowly, stalking her like a predator so as not to alarm her while she gathered herself. Her scent filled the air and he burned to take her again.

In the furthest reaches of his mind, Mother cried out weakly, on last time. _"This is what it has come to? Fine! Do what you want! Go fuck her like the animal you are!"_

Sephiroth put his hands on Aeris' hips and dragged her towards him, enjoying the way she screamed and pulled at the sheets. _"That's exactly what I had in mind!"_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Deep below the old grey mansion, in a musty, cobwebbed room, a lone figure tossed in restless sleep. The thick, stone walls, the distance, even his wooden box could not completely shield him from the screams above. He roused to half-wakefulness, a foggy in-between state. He would never be sure afterwards if he had only imagined those noises he heard. It did not matter. What happened in the world above was no longer his concern. He shut his eyes and returned to more familiar dreams.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The first thing Sephiroth became aware of upon waking was the warm, nude body beneath him. He rolled over and sat up, trying to clear his head. Whatever he had done, it had been vigorous. Every part of him was sore. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked down at the one beside him. He froze.

Aeris lay on her stomach. Her face was veiled by strands of dark hair. She looked peaceful and far too still. She was bruised. Terribly. Sephiroth staggered back from the sight.

Her shoulders and upper back were a vivid shade of red. The semicircular indentations of teeth were all over her body. Her wrists bore bracelets of color, all shades of red and purple. Dark lines stretched across her waist and hips, trails left by his groping hands. There were vivid handprints across the soft skin of her behind. Sephiroth stumbled backwards till he hit the wall. Had he actually struck her like that?

He turned away shuddering. This was everything he had feared. He had taken that innocent girl and hurt her so badly. First he had abandoned her. That had hurt him as well, but he had done it to prevent this. Now there was no redemption for him. He had taken his pleasure with her with no regard for her feelings and well-being.

He braced his hands on the wall to keep himself from falling. He was too distressed to even cry out at the shame of what he had done. He had hurt Aeris after he had sworn never to cause her harm. He shuddered. Memory assaulted him...the way her back arched, her heat, his harsh voice, her screams...

Sephiroth shook as if he were about to fall to pieces. "Gods," he begged quietly, as if they would listen to him, as if they could save him from what he had done. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head in violent denial.

"Sephiroth?"

The man jumped and spun around, poised like a cornered animal. Aeris was sitting up in the bed, staring at him with wide eyes. "Sephiroth, are you all right?"

Sephiroth swallowed and fought for air. Aeris was holding the sheet up over her breasts. One leg was folded beneath her and the other hung off the bed. Her toes were just shy of brushing the floor. The swordsman felt lightheaded. He swayed a bit on his feet. Aeris dropped the sheet and sprang off the bed, unashamed of her nudity.

"Stay back!" Sephiroth held up one hand. He had to keep her away, before he hurt her again. "Stay away from me, Aeris."

The woman stopped in the middle of the floor. "What's wrong?" He did not answer. Her eyes lit up. "What's wrong, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth felt his chest tighten. He needed water so badly. His mouth moved as he tried to answer but his voice was slow to cooperate. "I... I..." he gasped. "I hurt you, Aeris." He shut his eyes and turned away again. "I hurt you." Her heard her soft footsteps as she came closer.

"Yes," she said quietly. "You did hurt me a bit. Do you really think that matters?"

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder at her. She stood proudly before him, calm and almost radiant, despite the dark colors spread across the pale canvas of her skin. She was no girl anymore, but a woman completely aware of her body's power. He could not understand it. "You're bruised," he insisted. "You're bruised all over." She looked down at herself and touched the marks gingerly, then studied her wrists.

"Do these really bother you so much?" she asked. "They don't bother me." He watched her run her hands in a slow pattern around her wrists. He felt the hidden surge of something that was almost familiar. When Aeris removed her hands, there was no discoloration. She set to work on her waist and hips. She brushed her hands up to her shoulders then down to her love-bitten breasts and around the rest of her body. Whatever she was doing to herself, she seemed to enjoy it. She threw her head back as her hands worked their magic. She made a soft sound, a quiet exhalation as she finished. She stood there for a while, awash in the joy of her own power.

When she looked at Sephiroth again, her skin was as flawless as it had ever been. "All better now." She closed the distance between them and worked her way under his arms to lean against his body. Sephiroth trembled uncontrollably and he knew she felt it.

She nuzzled his throat, then worked her way down to his chest. The swordsman bit his lip to keep from crying out. The effort failed when he felt her tongue on his skin. For the second time that night, he tasted blood. Her hands ran down his body to touch the evidence of the effect she had on him. He froze, unable to think of what she would do to him. She leaned heavily against him, forcing him to put an arm around her shoulders and straighten her up again. She seemed content just to touch him for a while, but Sephiroth could not forget exactly where she had her hands.

"You were rough this time, Sephiroth," she chided him with a gentle tug. "It was very... interesting." Sephiroth felt his knees go weak. She kept tugging him and knew he had better follow.

He let her lead him to the bed and there found his absolution. He took her blindly, fearing that to see her would be to drown once more in her spell. Every bruise he had meted out before was repaid in the way she clawed at his back and the nipped at his throat. The pain drove him in the desperate attempt to reclaim his control. He only dared open his eyes when she began to scream. He watched her mouth move as she cried out.

She was beautiful, flushed with passion beneath him. There was no unnatural light and no unusual power. It was no shining otherworldly being he bedded but a warm, flesh-and-blood woman, one who could meet and match him in every way. Perhaps that was even more terrible, but he could not think more on it. He could barely think at all so he stopped trying. The room was soon filled with the sound of his name punctuated by the rhythmic knocking of the headboard hitting the wall.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris frowned a little as she forced the rusty needle she had found through the fabric of her dress. It was slow-going, but it would do. She supposed she was grateful that there had been an old sewing kit in the nightstand, even if the needle was orange and flaky and the thread was aged to instant fraying and did not quite match the color of her dress. It was better than nothing. She hitched the sheets up tighter around her hips and kept on with the task of sewing the buttons back onto her dress.

The door creaked open and a silver-haired head peeped around it. "I found your boots," Sephiroth said sheepishly, showing her the footwear. "Your socks were near the kitchen door."

Aeris smiled up at him. "Thank you, Seph." She went back to her sewing. Sephiroth almost blushed. That nickname of his had never seemed so nice. He smiled back and ran a hand through his hair.

"Um, there's one more thing, Aeris."

She did not even look up from her sewing. "What is it?"

Sephiroth took a deep breath. "I can't remember where I threw your underwear. Did you happen to see which way it went?"

Aeris bit the thread off. "I wasn't wearing any when I came in, dear."

It was too much for the swordsman. He tore the sheet from her body, grabbed her legs and yanked her to the foot of the bed. Aeris shrieked in surprise, flinging the dress back. Sephiroth pulled her ankles up around his neck and probed her body again. "Please, Aeris," he begged. "Please... I need... let me."

Aeris took the time to stick the needle safely into the cloth, then smiled slyly up at her lover. "All right, Sephiroth. Since you asked so nicely."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was barely an hour before sunrise when Sephiroth finally led a fully-dressed Aeris out of the bedroom. He had her by the hand, afraid to let her slip away. There were other things in the mansion, creatures that only stayed hidden because they knew he was stronger. He escorted his lover down the stairs and to the front door. Their parting kiss was a gentle ending to the night.

Sephiroth pulled her closer, unwilling to let her leave. He could not even begin to understand how things had taken this turn. Aeris pulled away eventually, pressing a finger to his lips as she did.

"I'll see you again sometime," she said firmly. It was almost an order and Sephiroth knew he had better obey. No more running, no more leaving her alone. He shut the door firmly behind her then ran to the window to watch her leave. She walked down the path, out the gate and was soon out of sight. Sephiroth stared after her long after she had gone.

Finally he turned to face the eerie emptiness of the mansion. His feet felt like lead as he made his way up the stairs. He got to the landing and remembered how good it had been to manhandle the woman. It was more than he could take. He slid down to the floor.

"What has she done to me?" He wrapped his arms around himself and rocked back and forth slightly. "What has she done to me?"

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, a very physical relationship. No play-by-play lemon for this chapter. I felt that the angry make-up sex came across fine without it and putting one in would just be gratuitous. The other side of the tricky characterization issue is that some people have a harder time picking little details up and putting them together. If that's the case, there's not much I can do about it. If I lay it out in the open I feel like I'm insulting your intelligence. And now, here's a random scenario, because I love you all so much!

Vincent flung the lid of his coffin open and glared up at the ceiling. They were at it again, with music to boot. He could just make out the words if he listened hard enough.

Vincent aimed up at the ceiling and fired a few shots. "Cut it out, you rotten kids! This is a haunted house, not a bordello! I'm trying to sleep here!"

Upstairs, Sephiroth turned the volume on the small radio down with a worried frown on his face. "There's that sound again. Didn't you hear it?" Aeris grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back down.

"I didn't say you could stop, pretty boy!"


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Nineteen**

Aeris let the water beat down in a heavy stream on her back. It was lukewarm and would soon be cold but that hardly mattered. She stood very still, staring at a small chip in the tile. Realization was numbing.

She kept replaying the night's events in her head, turning them over in her mind, every word, every gesture. Her mind flitted through the night's memories, unable to settle on any one. Aeris waited for the shock to hit her, but nothing came.

That in itself should have been a shock, but it just did not matter. What was done was done and nothing would change that. The lack of regret over the night's events was more of a surprise to her than the events themselves. It just did not seem to be the critical issue she had thought it would be.

All her life her foster mother had warned her about the wrong kind of man and told her to save herself, presumably for marriage. Thinking back on it now, the very idea was laughable. The people in her neighborhood had seen her as an abomination or a threat, an _other_, even if they did not truly know what made her different. The Turks had hunted her everyday. The only one who had ever reached out to warm her heart had left and never returned, torn away from the world. Who would she ever settle down with? What normal person would want her?

Maybe that was why she had given Sephiroth a chance. He was different too, not like her but sufficiently not like anyone else for them to have that link between them. And he wanted her so badly. She recalled the stern planes of his face and the way his eyes had narrowed at her with disdain the night before. She had never been a truly violent person but right then she had wanted to smash his face in so badly, claw at him, hold his head down in a sink full of water, anything to get that horrible look off his face and make him see her the way he had at first.

She had brought him around, all right. All she had to do was show some leg and he would fall right in line. Her mother had been right about one thing. Men were simple creatures.

Aeris breathed out heavily. She began working up a good lather with the soap. It brought more immediate concerns to mind. Her bruises were gone. She had carefully healed all visible evidence, careful to take good care of her neck and shoulders where Sephiroth had marked her. She hoped she had not missed any spots. Bite marks would be so hard to explain.

She laughed a little. No regret for last night, no, but there were other things. She was tired and sore. The immediate marks and bruises had been healed, but there were deeper aches in her flesh and a weariness that went almost bone deep. Maybe she had extended herself a bit overmuch last night. And Sephiroth had only been too interested in seeing how much she could take. Before last night, she would not have believed she could bend that way.

Certain points on her spine still ached. They twinged sharply when she tried to move. Aeris growled quietly. That man deserved more than a simple smacking for dropping her on the stairs. She briefly recalled the way his face contorted halfway between rage and passion when she scratched him. She smirked as she scrubbed. Hopefully he was feeling the aftereffects too.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Mmph," Sephiroth winced as he buckled his coat. He seemed to have missed some of the claw marks on his shoulders.

"_Did you say something, son?"_ Mother asked archly.

"It's nothing, Mother." Sephiroth began to walk towards the basement, focusing on healing the scratches as he went.

"_I could have sworn I heard a little cry of pain,"_ Mother was almost whimsical.

Sephiroth ground his teeth. "I said it's nothing, Mother." He refused to groan though his coat chafed his scratches while he walked. He had healed up in the shower for the most part but the water had been cold and numbing and he had not known exactly where to direct his efforts. Aeris did not seem to have particularly long nails but in her rage she had still caused a fair amount of damage. Sephiroth recalled the red trails he had glimpsed on his back in the cloudy old mirror and shook his head. Little scrapes were somehow always more irritating than a proper wound. He would have to think carefully before crossing that girl again. There was no getting away from her now.

He still felt a little worn out, unbalanced enough that he had to reach out to the wall for support as he made his way down the wooden spiral staircase. He stumbled blindly down the dark hall and into the library to wait. The journey was more tiring than he had expected. Perhaps he had overextended himself last night.

He made his way past the books to the little alcove. It was as good a place to wait as any. He tried to sit on the desk but the added pressure of his weight on some of the lower scratches caused so much sudden stinging that he had to stand up again.

"_She really got you, didn't she?"_

Sephiroth crossed his arms and stood stiffly, turning his attention to healing every last scratch, bruise and ache he could find. It was quick business once he put his mind to it. He was not quite as tired and confused as he had been earlier in the morning. At least cold showers were good for something.

There was important work to be done now. His followers were all gathered here, awaiting his further instructions. If they had been capable of it, he would have told them to go stop the puppet and distract him, but the hooded men, his clones, were no match for one with a true measure of independence. Sephiroth shuddered. The clones' mindless worship disgusted him but Mother insisted on her Reunion, so he led them along for her sake. It helped that she had promised he could do away with them when the time was right. Sephiroth reached for one of the journals. There was not much in here that he did not already know but it had been so long since he had read these books and for some reason, many things were unclear.

"_You should have been reading these things last night, Sephiroth."_

"I was busy, Mother," Sephiroth murmured, idly flipping through the pages.

"_Yes, you certainly were that."_ Mother's disapproval was clear. Sephiroth shut the book quickly.

"Mother! Please, tell me you didn't watch! That's really none of your business!"

Mother almost snorted. _"Believe me, I would sooner live in a jar than watch you rutting."_

Sephiroth hunched down with a stormy look on his face. "There's no need to make it sound so sordid."

"_I would not have to deal with this if you could stop thinking about it all the time!" _Mother shrieked._ "Honestly, with the state your mind is in right now you're no better than an animal during mating season."_

The man sighed. He had to agree. He was a mess. He cautiously sat down again. "I don't know what happened," he confessed. "One minute she was trying to break my face and the next, the bed was moving across the floor." He actually felt Mother recoil away from his mind.

"_That's more than I needed to know."_

He buried his head in his hands. "I didn't mean for it to turn out this way."

Mother slithered resignedly back into place._ "I warned you that this would happen."_

"I know," Sephiroth groaned. "I don't know how things got this far."

"_You were the one chasing her!"_ Mother snapped. _"You wouldn't be in this situation if you had left her alone in the first place."_

"I know, I know." Sephiroth slumped forward wearily. "I don't know why I started it." He remembered the way Aeris had looked asleep under the harsh lighting of the laboratory and the almost instantaneous desire that had brought him to his knees. "She just…smelled so good."

Mother muttered something about him chasing after a bitch in heat. Sephiroth chose to ignore it. He adjusted the heavy book on his lap and hunched over it. He began idly leafing through the pages, not reading a thing. What he really wanted to do was stretch out somewhere cozy and sleep for a while. With Aeris next to him, of course.

He caught himself after a few minutes and reigned his jumbled thoughts in. He had to make sure of a few things before the puppet came calling. There were locations to verify, plans of action to consider and clones to direct. The last one irked him.

The clones were so bloody dependent on him. He had not even asked for them, but they were there nonetheless, products of mad science. He considered the possible advantages if they had been more like Strife, tied to the central power but capable of functioning without it in a pinch. A little independence was not a bad thing. Then Sephiroth recalled just how slow the blond boy was. "I'm just damned either way," he murmured.

"_What was that, Sephiroth?"_

"Nothing, Mother. You said you would give me more details about your plan. I am ready now."

Sephiroth had to squint against the light that was suddenly too bright when Mother began to flit around, shifting light pressure against his mind. _"How much time do we have before the blond puppet arrives?" _She asked, finally settling down in one place.

The swordsman turned his gaze away from the physical reality, sinking deeper till he was looking out of a pair of blue eyes. There was a mirror before him and a young man glaring back in annoyance. A comb was firmly stuck in the shock of spiky yellow hair. Sephiroth retreated from the sight and returned to the awareness of his own body. "He's trying to comb his hair flat. That should give us a few hours."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Yuffie tiptoed over the bed where Aeris lay facedown. The flower girl was fully dressed and stretched out full length on the bed with her booted feet hanging slightly off the side. Yuffie gave the girl a light poke on the shoulder.

"Aeris? You okay?"

Tifa tied off her long hair and approached the bed from the other side. "Is she asleep?"

"Mmhmm." Yuffie nodded. "Got all dressed and fell asleep again." Tifa grew concerned. She leaned over her prostrate friend and nudged the girl lightly.

"Aeris, wake up."

The flower girl twitched awake. She rolled over and sat up in surprise, blinking owlishly until her vision cleared. "Was I asleep?" she asked hoarsely.

"Yep." Yuffie plopped down on the bed. "What's the matter with you this morning? Your buttons are all messed up."

Aeris looked down the front of her dress and found it severely misaligned. "Oh no," she said with a tired expression on her face. "I don't know what happened this morning. I was up and then…" she sighed. "I was just so tired."

Tifa sat down on the other side of the bed. "Are you feeling all right?" She put a hand to Aeris' forehead. "You're a little bit warm, Aeris. Are you coming down with something? Maybe you're getting a cold."

"Or the flu," Yuffie put in.

Aeris shook her head wearily and hoped that she could keep her secrets to herself. "I don't think so."

"Any headaches?" Tifa continued. Aeris shook her head again, distinctly uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "Sore throat? Fatigue? Muscle aches?"

Aeris blinked. She was tired. There was no denying that. Her throat was a bit sore from all the shrieking and she did ache in certain places. Perhaps this was a way out. She nodded to Tifa. "I am a little achy."

Tifa nodded to herself. "I thought you looked a little flushed." She went around to get her pack to see if there was anything in there that could help. "Oh, what to do, what to do when the healer gets sick."

Aeris smiled weakly and stifled the tightness inside. Last night had been one thing, but keeping up this pretense, this utter, outright lie to her friends was another. She sat up and began to single-mindedly fix her dress.

It should have been wonderful. She had someone she shared something special with. Keeping that secret weighed heavily on her. She should have been shouting it from the mountain tops or at the very least giggling about it with Tifa. Yuffie was too young for some of the details.

Aeris shook her head. Instead she was tangled up with the alleged stark raving lunatic. It was easy to forget that part when he was with her, talking with her, laughing with her, touching her all over. Today, though, Cloud was going to confront the monster who had destroyed his life. Aeris had no idea what would happen. An image of Sephiroth bleeding under Cloud's sword rushed through her and she shivered. She did not want to lose Sephiroth, not even if he was murderous and supposedly insane.

Tifa came over and handed her a small bottle of an herbal pain reliever, the only thing the woman had been able to find at the moment. Aeris took it with a grateful smile. She caught Tifa's honest eyes for a moment. The urge to reveal everything bubbled up in the face of that open trust. Aeris' tongue froze, uncertain of its next move. There was no devil-may-care recklessness this morning. The rage that had fueled it had fortunately burned out. It had no place here.

The moment stretched overlong and discomfort touched Tifa's eyes. Aeris looked away quickly and maintained her silence. She leaned against the headboard in relief and her concerns were soon muted by the Planet's oddly joyful song.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was midmorning by the time Avalanche made its way out of the inn, but the sun lacked its normal strength. The entire town was oddly quiet. There was no real life here. This cardboard Nibelheim was a gloomy place. Cloud led the group through the town as quickly as possible. The Shinra mansion was the only thing that had survived the fire, but there had never been any warmth to it.

Aeris noticed that the door did not give as much trouble as it had the night before. She rolled her eyes at the melodramatic, manly grunt Cloud made. Lucky for him she had loosened it up.

The great hall seemed gloomier in the day, now that she took the time to look around. She had to check herself to keep from walking ahead of Cloud. Sooner or later, quite likely sooner, she would have to tell her friends something, but for now, she did not want to let anything slip. They could not guess she had been here before.

Cloud stopped in the middle and cocked his head as if listening to a distant call. "He's in here," he muttered. "Somewhere." He looked around thoughtfully and then waved the group to the left. Systematic searches were best.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"I'm right down hear, puppet," Sephiroth growled half-heartedly at the ceiling.

"_He still can't hear you as well as the others, I see."_ Mother's presence expanded and seemed to fill the room. _"Such a waste of time, that one."_

"At least he doesn't need me to tell him how to walk around a rock." Sephiroth settled back into the chair. "I still hope to actually get some use out of him."

"_And what are your plans for him afterward, Sephiroth?"_

The swordsman stretched a bit and locked his arms behind his head. "Something with no further use is garbage and should be disposed of accordingly."

Mother seemed pleased and slithered comfortably into place to watch.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris let her hand trail on the banister as she followed her friends up the stairs. The mansion was much larger than she had realized, with so many rooms and hallways. It would have been a beautiful place if it had maintained, if it did not have the shadowed past hinted at in the worn note Cloud held, or the strange numbers carved in hidden places. Something dark and heavy haunted this place. She could feel it now, something terrible. There were secrets here beyond what little Cloud had been able to tell them. The worst part was that some of those secrets were hers.

She stopped two steps short of the landing, unable to move her eyes from the wall. Sephiroth had held her there last night. She could almost feel his hands roaming over her skin again. Aeris reached out to the wall. She needed to feel how solid it was and know that it was real, that her body had the power to drive a man to that kind of madness. It was hard to believe that she'd had her back pressed against that particular spot just a few hours ago. She swore she could see the faint outline of herself there. She glanced ahead. The others had walked right by it and had seen nothing amiss.

Cloud was leading the way up the stairs. Cold light fanned out around the dark shadow of his retreating form. Aeris watched the way his feet moved as he stepped where she had fallen. The points on her back flared up again. She took a step forward and tripped on the stair, stumbling into the wall. She put her hands up to brace herself and only barely managed to keep from falling.

Everyone turned and Tifa rushed over. "Aeris, are you okay?"

"Something wrong?" Cloud asked, poised at the top of the stairs. Aeris shook her head.

"It's nothing. I tripped."

Tifa pressed her hand to the flower girl's forehead. "You don't feel so warm but you might still be down with something." Aeris straightened up quickly. She did not have the nerve to voice the truth but she refused to hide behind feigned illness anymore.

"I'm okay," she insisted more sharply than she intended. "It's nothing." Cloud nodded and looked ahead, contemplating his direction.

"Girl, if it's just nerves about meeting Sephiroth face to face, don't you worry about a thing. We'll take care of ya!" Yuffie bounced up and down. "If he tries anything funny, I'll just grab me a big kitchen knife and HIYA!" She lunged out and murdered the empty space in front of her. Aeris had to smile at the girl's enthusiasm.

"What the hell you talking 'bout, child?" Barret scolded from up the stairs. "Going after a psychopath with a kitchen knife."

"Hey, it could work!" Yuffie spun around with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah and I'll be pissing blue tomorrow," Barret turned away and went after Cloud.

Yuffie scuffed her shoes against the ground and followed, grumbling quietly. "Gawd, it's not that ridiculous. It could work." She glanced back down the stairs. "Should have grabbed a kitchen knife while I was down there." She hesitated, as if considering running back for one, but decided otherwise. She hefted her shuriken higher on her back and kept walking with the others.

Tifa looked at Aeris again as if to reassure herself that her friend truly was all right. There was a strange determination on her face.

"Hey!" Cloud called out from around the corner. "Hurry up! I found another one of those number thingies!"

"I'm okay, Tifa," Aeris said firmly and began walking. Tifa nodded and followed. Aeris certainly sounded fine, but it was strange how she would not look anyone in the eye today.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"What in the world is that boy doing?" Sephiroth slammed his book shut.

"_He seems to be on some kind of treasure hunt. Nosy, isn't he?"_

Sephiroth sighed wearily. "Leave it to him to find someway to make something take forever. 'Come down to the basement to get your instructions.' It's that simple." He eavesdropped on his puppet's inane conversation for a moment. "Do you think it's possible he forgot where the basement is?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud entered the large bedroom and looked around. The others filed in quietly behind him. The place was spotless and tidy. Cloud let out a deep breath. He really had thought Sephiroth would be here. The dark pull he associated with his former general was strong in this place. Cloud scratched his head and looked at the neatly made bed. The corners were perfect and the sheets were so tight Cloud suspected that a one-gil coin would bounce at least three feet in the air. Sephiroth was not here now, but it seemed he must have spent the night.

Red XIII sneezed loudly, breaking Cloud's train of thought. "Bless you," he mumbled automatically.

"Shank you," Red mumbled and sneezed again. Cait Sith poked the big cat gently with his megaphone.

"What's the matter with you? Allergic to dust or something?"

Red sniffled. "It smells funny in here. Kind of like human but not really." He sneezed loudly again.

"Damn it, cat! You're spraying!" Barret howled and hopped out of the way.

"Shorry," Red pawed at his sensitive nose as best he could. "I can't really cover my nose. I'll just wait outside." He padded outside, sniffling all the while.

He found Aeris leaning against the wall just outside the door. "Didn't you go in?" he asked. Aeris shook her head. She seemed far away. Red rubbed his head against her leg and managed to get a smile out of her.

"Why did you come out?" She patted him lightly on the head.

"There's a strange smell in there and it's making me sneeze." Aeris' eyes grew wide. She remembered how she had left that room, with a rumpled bed that was not quite lined up with the wall anymore, sheets half on the floor and the musk of two writhing bodies filling the air. She still was not used to it herself. She swallowed nervously as Red nuzzled her leg again. "It's not so bad out here. You smell better. Like lots of good, clean soap."

Aeris rubbed his fur and silently thanked the Planet for small mercies.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_It's a good thing you made the bed. Maybe you should have aired the room out a bit more though."_

"Oh, come off it, Mother!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"There's more stuff in this house than I remember." Cloud fiddled with the large safe. Tifa put one hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe you shouldn't interfere too much, Cloud. Shinra kept some strange things in here."

Cloud looked at the note again and weighed his options. "Shinra leaves strange things everywhere. Maybe there's something in here that can help us." He glanced at the note on the floor beside him and grinned. "It's probably nothing anyway but it can't hurt to look."

He set the dial at the last hidden number on the note and the door exploded outward.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"What in the nine hells is he doing?" Sephiroth shrieked. "He's going to get her killed."

"_Her?"_ Mother asked coldly. Sephiroth was too distressed to pay any mind. He reached for the sword at his side and prepared to run. _"Sephiroth, STOP!"_

"I have to go! She's up there! She can't fight well! I have t-."

"_You have to do nothing! The puppet keeps her at the back, doesn't he? That thing they are fighting will have to go through quite a few of them to get to her. Wait here for now."_

Sephiroth's grip tightened on his sword. He paced blindly back and forth in the corridor, keeping his sight on the beast that raged before his puppet. Fire raced through him as he pushed the boy's body to perform, maneuver and destroy.

He saw hands swing out before 'his' eyes. A broad sword glinted above a great, bulbous head. The sharp point sank in and dragged through the sickly-colored flesh, releasing vile fluid along the way. Sephiroth's arms twitched in response. The sword he controlled was more awkward than the one he held but he did not let that stop him. He growled and floors above him, Strife echoed the sound, lunging out to evade a tentacle and sink bloodied metal into the creature's third heart. The thing roared and twitched and was still.

Sephiroth returned to his body shivering and breathless, but relieved. "It is finished. The elements of the plan remain secure."

"_Plan?"_ Mother snapped. _"Don't even pretend that this was about the plan. It was about HER!" _Sephiroth said nothing. Mother calmed in his mind at his guilty silence. _"You're a bit old to be thinking with your pants so often, son."_

"I know." Sephiroth nodded and slunk back to his seat.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"A key?" Barret waved his arms furiously. "We went through all that for a goddamned key? Shoulda at least been some fancy ray gun that we could actually use!"

"I can still go get that kitchen knife," Yuffie offered.

"Girl, don't start that nonsense again."

Red sneezed. "Hmph. Monster blood." He picked his way past the monster's charred and steaming remains to the hallway outside. Aeris looked up from healing a cut on Tifa's arm.

"What now, Cloud?"

The blond blinked as if waking from a dream. He swung his sword out quickly to flick off the worst of the gore, then straightened himself. "We find Sephiroth. No more games." He barely gave the group a minute to get themselves together before he marched out the door. The others scrambled after him.

Nothing had changed in the small room that held the hidden door to the basement. Cloud only took a moment to activate the mechanism. The wall slid away to reveal the shaky wooden spiral of steps. Cloud went down without a moment's hesitation. The others hung back a bit.

Barret looked down the well, maintaining a death grip on the edge of the wall. "He never said the stairs were that rickety." Tifa nodded but took a step anyway. She leaned heavily against the wall as she worked her way down. The others followed her example. Cloud was not waiting for any of them.

They caught up with him at the foot of the stairs. He was peering down the dark tunnel. Aeris assumed that with the mako in his system he had no trouble seeing in the dark. She knew there was supposed to be a door at the end of the rough passageway but she could not see it.

"He's down here," Cloud said quietly.

Red edged forward, staying close to the wall. "In there?" He pointed with a toss of his head. Cloud's eyes narrowed in the darkness. Aeris leaned forward and looked hard but she could not see anything.

"What is it?"

Cloud turned back to the group. "Who's got that key? I think we may have found our lock."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Oh, for the love of corn, what's he doing now?" Sephiroth thumped his head against the nearest shelf.

"_It is a bit much, isn't it?"_ For once, Sephiroth did not mind Mother's impatience. The frustration of waiting was getting to him. _"I think it's time to consider just killing him."_

Sephiroth frowned. "That might make some things more difficult. Although…" He brightened. "If I got him out of the way, Aeris would have to come with me."

"_Sephiroth,"_ Mother warned. _"Don't do anything rash."_

"You're the one who brought it up, Mother. I'm only considering the possible outcome." The man smirked a little at his Mother's rare flustered moment.

"_If you took her with you now, chances are you would be too busy to get anything more done,"_ Mother remarked snidely. Sephiroth had to admit that she was right but truthfully the prospect did not seem bad at all. From the way things were going, he actually might be safer with Aeris right beside him where he could keep an eye on her. For now though, there were a few more things that needed to be done.

"There's no sense wasting more time. I will order the followers to the next Planetary node while Strife gets his act together." Sephiroth reached out and sank himself fully into pulling all the necessary strings.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Of all the things Aeris had seen since joining Avalanche, the young man perched on the edge of the coffin in front of her had to be the strangest. The whole group had nearly died of fright when he first flipped out of the casket. Aeris' heart still could not slow down. She could barely even hear what the man was saying. The only thing that stayed with her was that he seemed familiar with Sephiroth.

She had been tempted at first to think that the man in red was not human. No human could almost fly like that. She checked that thought quickly enough. Sephiroth could do that and more and he was human looking enough for her. That realization brought a flood of other things she had not even bothered to consider before. She stood very still in the middle of the group, careful to keep her expression neutral as she tried to sort out her thoughts above Cloud's attempt to keep the strange man talking. She had heard this story before, in Kalm. It made less sense to her now than it had before.

Cloud had said that Sephiroth claimed to be a Cetra. Sephiroth himself had never said such a thing to her and she had never bothered to ask him. He did not feel like a Cetra would, or at least he did not resonate in the Planet's consciousness the way Aeris did herself. He had never spoken to her of his mother, Jenova. Aeris bit the inside of her cheek to restrain herself. She could feel something strange building in her gut and feared an outburst.

That thing, Jenova, she remembered it from the ship and from dark, gaping voids in the Planet's sense when she had been in the Shinra lab. It was nothing like her. Jenova was only fragments of something that resembled no other living being. It certainly did not seem Cetran. And Sephiroth was that thing's son?

"So Sephiroth knows he was created…," the strange man was saying.

That was it. Created. Sephiroth was some kind of tube child, a tank baby. Maybe that was why the Planet could not reach him. Aeris swallowed. She knew so little about her lover and yet she was sure she knew much more about him than anyone else.

"Hearing your stories has added upon me yet another sin." The man's blood red eyes grew haunted and Aeris sensed something dark and unspeakably sad. "More nightmares will come to me now." He shot sharply upwards again. Aeris' stomach lurched just looking at him. He settled back into his coffin and shut it sharply with a curt order for them to leave.

Cloud was not having any of that. The man had information. Cloud rapped the coffin lid until it creaked open again. Crimson eyes peered out in heavily evident annoyance.

"You're still here." The man sounded so disappointed.

Cloud brushed the man's curt demeanor off. "At least give us a name."

The man emerged again with a sigh. "I was with…the Turks. Vincent. I am Vincent." Cloud blinked.

"You're with the Turks?"

The man looked aside for a moment. "I have no affiliation with Shinra now. Do you?" Aeris saw something like hope enter the burning red eyes upon hearing that Cloud was from SOLDIER. "Do you know Lucrecia?" Something in his tone touched Aeris' heart.

"Who?" Cloud asked gruffly. Aeris winced inside.

"Lucrecia," the man, Vincent, repeated. "The woman who gave birth to Sephiroth."

Aeris listened in earnest at what came next. Sephiroth was not Jenova's son? She listened, awestruck at Vincent's dark tale. It was no wonder he wore such a cloud of guilt and gloom around him. He spoke very little of his feelings on the matter, but it was clear enough. To lose his love like that…

"And that's why you started sleeping in a box?" Barret yelled. "Gimme a break!" Vincent threw the large man a sour look and settled into his casket again.

"Let me sleep." The lid snapped shut and no amount of knocking could get the man to reopen it.

"Gawd, let's give it up!" Yuffie hollered. "If he wants to stay in a box who are we to yank him out of it."

Aeris nodded but she could not speak. Jenova was not Sephiroth's mother. If Vincent had spoken the truth, everything Sephiroth thought he knew was a lie, still a lie. There was no need for him to do Jenova's bidding. She was not his mother.

That one important bit of information kept rolling through her. If only he knew, then this whole mess would be over. It would not bring Nibelheim back. The lost souls could not return. But still, whatever he was doing, it would stop. Sephiroth was human, no matter what had been done to him. He was human and he needed to know that. He could stop running. Avalanche could stop chasing him. And then they could be together.

It sounded like the perfect dream. Aeris wrapped her arms around herself. She knew better than to trust in dreams by now. She followed closely behind the others as they filed out of the crypt. Nobody wanted to be left behind in Shinra's dark basement. Aeris gave Vincent's coffin one brief backward glance but did not stop to wonder long. He had made his decision. She had some of her own to make now.

Cloud's fingers twitched for his sword when he entered the library. His friends pressed in close behind him but he waved them back. "Don't get too close. This is between Sephiroth and me." Tifa looked as if she might say something, but she held her tongue and let Cloud walk forward alone.

She backed up, afraid to see what would happen. She jumped when she bumped into the strange table. The entire room was full of strange, frightening equipment. She tried not to get too close to anything.

"Creepy, huh?" Yuffie met her eyes. "I could so see somebody going nuts down here."

Tifa agreed with the girl but she was wound too tight to appreciate the attempt to lighten the situation. She only barely managed to keep from snapping at the girl to shut up. Instead, she turned around to face the corridor. She could see Cloud's blue-clad back and hear his voice. He was right there, just a few feet away, conversing with a madman.

She glanced around the room again. The others were poised, on edge, just like her, waiting for the first sign that something had gone wrong. Aeris was the only one who did not have a hint of defensive posture, though she still looked nervous. As if sensing the eyes on her, Aeris glanced straight at Tifa, expressionless, and looked away again.

The flowergirl stayed close to the door and weighed her options. Sephiroth was just a short walk away. He had to know she was there. She could walk in right now and put a stop to anything before it escalated. From the sound of things, Sephiroth did not seem to be giving Cloud much of a chance to say anything. Or Cloud was being rather inept about the whole thing. The whole situation could easily dissolve into a terrible fight. She considered just walking up to the two men in question and blurting out the truth, telling Cloud she had a lover, telling Sephiroth that he did not have to do whatever he was doing anymore.

It took more nerve than she possessed. Her secrets were still too new and fresh for her to tell the world. She did not know all she needed to know of Sephiroth's story yet. She had half an urge to run back down the hallway and interrogate Vincent, to hell with his selfish wallowing. She was sure she could come up with some way to wring more information out of him.

A loud cry of pain got her attention. Cloud came flying backwards into the laboratory, clutching his midsection. Everyone tensed noticeably as Sephiroth flew out the hallway and headed for the door. He was too fast for anyone to stop him.

Aeris took a breath to call out to him. He seemed to slow down a little as he passed the door. Aeris tried to remember what she had wanted to say. Sephiroth's head turned as he flew and their eyes met. There was something like pain there, from a longing so intense, so close to fulfillment and denied.

He was through the door in a blur of black and Aeris was left to catch her breath like all the rest.

* * *

**A.N:** Here it is, finally. I did not mean to take this long, but I had a lot of work to do and deadlines to deal with. I could not give the story the kind of attention I like to. I tried to get it done during the holidays but I got drafted into kitchen duty instead. Fortunately there were no casualties.


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Disclaimer:** FFVII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is made from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty**

Sephiroth made his way easily down the Nibel Mountain. His feet never touched the ground. He could have flown over the whole thing easily but the air was thin and cold and decidedly uncomfortable. Besides, it was much more fun this way.

There was something exciting in floating along just a few feet above ground. The flinty rubble could not stop him. Wild creatures could not catch him. Anything that dared to leap out learned the error of its ways in a shower of sparks or searing flame. It was an exhilarating little game and more importantly, it let Sephiroth focus on something other than the clammy, grasping obeisance of his Mother's clones. Their blind worship of him was decidedly sickening. The brief contacts left cold trails in his mind. Sephiroth was eager for the day when Mother would finally allow him to obliterate those mindless snails.

Something moved a few feet ahead of him. He did not wait to see what it was. He channeled the power within him, calling down the wrath of heaven. Electricity answered and shards of rock flew. Whatever unfortunate creature had made its presence known was seared to a crisp. He floated by it with a sneer. If only he could do that to the hooded men and be rid of them.

"_I'll let you destroy them soon enough, son." _Mother was calm now that they were making some kind of progress. _"You're lucky you didn't kill that other one though."_

"Kill him?" Sephiroth was surprised. "All we did was talk."

Mother flitted past the recent memories in his head. _"You hit him in the stomach with materia."_

"Oh, that." Sephiroth brushed it off. "He was blocking the exit. I had to get him out of the way somehow."

"_By throwing materia at him?"_

The man shrugged. "I couldn't very well hit him with a lightning bolt. I might have brought the whole house down on top of my head."

Mother pressed coolly against his consciousness. _"You mean HER head." _Sephiroth rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Mother, whatever you say." The presence in his mind was silent for a while, gratified at his oblique confession. Sephiroth began to enjoy the cold wind rushing past his face. The evening was chill but the winds were calm. The sky was turning the most interesting shade of orange and grey and the air had a certain tang to it. There would be rain when night fell.

"_You did it on purpose, didn't you?"_ Mother broke in.

"Did what?"

"_You gave the puppet a perfectly good piece of materia. A powerful one too, I might add."_

Sephiroth shrugged. "I don't really have need of it."

Mother bristled. _"Still, there was no reason to go handing that kind of power to the puppet. I assume you have a reason for that."_

Sephiroth sighed and whizzed past a sharp boulder. "It would do us no good if he got himself killed before playing his part in this."

"_It's odd that you're talking about keeping him alive, considering that you almost sent that thing through his gut,"_ Mother said archly.

Sephiroth shrugged. "I honestly thought he would duck, Mother. It's not my fault he's even blonder than he looks."

Mother coiled into her familiar corner. _"I suppose giving him something so strong had nothing at all to do with trying to get him to take better care of the girl."_

"No, not a thing," Sephiroth said blithely, smirking all the while.

"_Really."_

"Really," the swordsman replied, even though it had not been a question. He glided smoothly along, keeping an eye out for convenient cracks and caves in case the rain caught him.

Mt. Nibel was a bare place, high peaked, ominous and grey. It was a rough climb for the grounded traveler, all sharp handholds and steep escarpments, its few trails narrow and marked by dangerously loose rubble. The wind had never voiced anything pleasant and a permanent cold mist hung heavy around the it.

Sephiroth did not mind the harsh monotone much, though it was sharper now than it had been in memory. He felt the need for a softer color to rest his eyes on than the endless dark grey. Here and there, straggly scrub grew, but they were hard, dark and thorny. Sephiroth did not know exactly why but he was disappointed at the lack of green.

Life could find a way in the strangest conditions. Something pale and windblown caught the swordsman's eye. He floated over to the side of the trail to investigate. There, clinging fiercely to the rubble, was a dark, slender plant with narrowly bladed leaves and a tiny white bud of a flower. Sephiroth descended gracefully to the ground and knelt beside it.

He reached out with one hand to touch the thing. It was interesting how a flower could grow even in such harsh conditions. It reminded him of her. Long fingers closed around the tough, slender stem and waited. Sephiroth considered plucking the thing and leaving it on the path for Aeris to find, but he remembered the last bud he had picked, how it had withered before his sight. This tough little bud had gone through so much just to be able to live. The swordsman's grip on the stem became a gentle caress as he rose into the air again. He was smiling a little as he drifted away.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud gasped and heaved and finally gave in. "Let's stop here for a breather." The Nibel mountains had not changed. He had pushed the team and himself to the absolute limit. They were about halfway down the mountain now but a rest was definitely in order. His friends needed a break. It had nothing to do with his aching ribs. Not a damn thing.

Some of the others exhaled in relief but none of them seemed thoroughly exhausted, not even Aeris. The long days of hiking had toughened her a bit. Cloud watched everyone spread out along the trail. Yuffie took the chance to stretch a bit. Tifa and Aeris shared a space on a rock and sipped elegantly from their canteens. All was as it should be, so long as Cloud could ignore the pain in his midsection. He had not bothered to check it, but he was sure it would be a nice shade of purple by now. Even for those who had seen and knew, it was difficult to believe just how powerful Sephiroth was.

Cloud forced himself to sit straight and look at the team again. The newcomer, Vincent, stayed far to the back. He stood stiffly with his face mostly hidden by his red cloak. The wind blew the deep folds open but Cloud noticed that the man kept one side in a firm grip, possibly to hide the metal claw. Cloud did not know where the metal limb had come from but he knew that it would do no good to ask. Vincent seemed to know more than he had said but answers were not forthcoming. The former Turk cut all attempts at further questioning with a hard gaze and cold silence. He seemed so disinterested in getting to know the others that Cloud wondered why the man had bothered to come at all. The blond was not about to buy the line about not sleeping well lately.

The others accepted him to differing degrees. The women seemed more than a little intrigued, though they mostly did not bother the man. Cloud did not really understand it but it was better than Barret's cold shoulder. The large gunman had some odd idea that Vincent should have taken a greater interest in confronting Sephiroth. At least nothing serious had broken out. Cloud tried to take a deep breath in relief and was stopped by the sharp pain. He clenched his fists and stifled a groan.

It was completely unfair. Sephiroth always seemed to go for his gut. A cut to the face would have been better. Cloud rubbed his cheek. A scar might actually add some rugged character to his boyish face. A slash on the arm would have been acceptable too. Then Tifa or Aeris could come over and bandage him up with a strip of torn cloth and tell him how lucky he was in that lovely worried tone that was strictly in the female domain. That way he could brush off his wound as a mere scratch, shoulder his weapon and be on his manly way.

But there was no way anyone could look tough and rugged clutching his gut. Cloud tried to breathe again but the pain was too much and the cold air only made it worse. He whimpered softly and hunched down in pain, still unwilling to show any sign of distress, or Heaven forbid, actually ask for help.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he flinched. He looked up to find Aeris smiling knowingly down at him. "Need some help?" Cloud did not answer. He could feel his cheeks coloring up. Aeris knelt down beside him and tugged boldly at his shirt. "Come on. Let me see."

Pain or no pain, Cloud sprang to life. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of that!" Firm hands grasped his shoulders and forced him back to his seat. He turned his head to find Tifa giving him that same knowing smile.

"Sit down and let the girl help you, Cloud. Don't be stubborn."

Cloud flailed and tried to push them away. "I don't need help. I'm fine." The women shared a glance over his head.

"Nice try." Aeris reached for Cloud's shirt again while Tifa held him down. "Don't think we didn't hear you wheezing your way up the mountain. We were waiting to see how long it would take you to ask for help."

"I'm surprised you didn't keel over," Tifa scolded him. "You know the conditions here aren't great." Cloud stilled, only somewhat chastened. Aeris lifted his shirt and both women marveled over the color of his stomach.

"That's one fine shade of purple. I've grown flowers that weren't that vivid." Aeris put her fingers to the discoloration. Cloud grimaced, gasping. Aeris looked up at him. "Did that hurt?" Cloud tried not to growl. Aeris went back to her exploration. "Hmm, its mostly bad bruising. Oh, you've cracked a rib!"

"I didn't crack it! Sephiroth did!" Cloud protested.

"Doesn't matter who did it, Cloud." Tifa tightened her grip on him. "Suppose it had punctured your lung? You know the air's thin up here. And you went fighting with that injury too."

"You heal quickly," Aeris murmured. "It's just a hairline break and most of the bruising is changing color already. Still," she pressed her fingers down on the injured bone, "running around injured wasn't a smart thing to do."

Cloud gritted his teeth. Aeris was looking a bit too satisfied with the whole thing. She gave him a wicked little glance and held her hands just above his skin. "Just a moment now." A rush of warm air passed over his bruises. His middle felt hot and his insides itched. He tried to wriggle away. "Stop moving, Cloud." Aeris was firm. "Let it heal."

It was soon over. Tifa released Cloud. Aeris stepped back to let him sit up straight again. He passed his hand over his stomach and took a few deep, easy breaths. He looked down at himself. Instead of bright purple, there was just a very faint trace of the sickly greenish color that marked nearly-healed bruises. "Hey!" He rubbed his belly one more time to be sure then scratched the back of his head. He always itched when he was nervous. "Thanks," he murmured sheepishly.

"Don't mention it," Aeris winked at him and got up to go. "By the way, nice abs!" She and Tifa made their way giggling back to their seat, leaving Cloud turning a nice shade of red behind them.

Red sniffed the air as they walked. "Grass. We're almost down." He scampered ahead a bit.

"Good!" Barret threw his fist in the air. "Cloud, I been around mountains most of my life but your place is creepy." Cloud only shrugged and pressed forward. The team followed close behind him, eager to find somewhere more hospitable to spend the night.

Aeris felt more at ease than she had before. The climb had been tough and wearying, especially considering how tired she had been before, but the air had been just chilly enough to keep her alert. The Planet's voice was reduced to blissful humming far in the back of her mind. The voices of the Cetra were silent. Aeris wondered if they had disowned her. Whatever they decided did not matter. It was the Planet that had the final say and it seemed quite pleased with the recent turn of events.

Aeris had been able to distract herself from more serious things by playing a little game of Cloud-watching with Tifa most of the time. It had not done much to improve her newly-dubious estimation of SOLDIERS, but it had been fun until they gave it up to keep the spiky-headed one from suffering further.

She took a deep, appreciative breath. The air was warmer now and bore the scent of approaching rain. There was even some scrub growing on the side of the rocky trail. Aeris recognized the pattern of their tie to the Planet. They would ease respiratory ailments if processed and administered right. She stopped to pick some of the more tender shoots.

She paused for a minute, attracted to a tiny flower growing in the midst of the grey scrub. It was a pale thing almost enfolded by narrow, dark leaves, unique and alone among the ordinary bushes. It reminded her of him. Aeris stroked the small bud gently. She still had not revealed anything. With her lover gone ahead once more, there was no urgent need to do so.

That did nothing to ease the tight knot inside her. The longer she kept quiet, the more deceitful she was being to the people who had taken care of her and protected her from the very moment of meeting her. She knew now that she should have told them about her encounters with Sephiroth from the start, before things had become this serious. Hindsight was damning like that. There was no way their reactions would have been good after learning that the man expressed a more than casual interest in her. Telling them that she was now an active, willing, _eager _participant would likely result in a fit of collective apoplexy. All she was doing now was postponing the inevitable.

The girl looked up from the flower. The sky was darkening, turning a ruddy shade of purple. The brightest stars came out to stare down at Aeris' indecision. She rose and hurried to catch up to the others.

Avalanche arrived at the outskirts of a small town just before nightfall. They had pushed even harder to make their way to it in the failing light. Fortunately the tilting, towering obelisk made a perfect target against the purpling sky.

"Thank Leviathan," Yuffie gasped. "I don't wanna walk no more."

"Yeah," Barret gasped, looking back the way they had come. "Man, I miss the buggy."

"Me too." Cloud looked mournfully back over the mountain. The little car just had not been equipped to cross that kind of terrain. Both men sighed, then turned away. "Come on, guys," Cloud waved everyone forward. "Let's find a place to rest. Anything else can wait till morning."

Inns were always fairly easy to find. They were usually well-lit at night. They had bold signs and luckily for the weary traveler, were usually near the main street into town. Aeris knew she was not the only one who was grateful that it was only a short distance away. Just as they entered the gate, the sky broke and the rain came pouring down.

Cloud made it first and held the door open for the rest. Tifa hurried forward squealing from the cold rain. Yuffie rolled her eyes. "You're not gonna melt, Tifa. It's just a little water." But she raced inside too, running right into Tifa's back.

The small restaurant and bar beneath the inn was bright and warm and full. The crowd was boisterous. Drinks were passing back and forth. The laughter was loud. Someone at the far end of the hall was singing some very off-color tunes to the accompaniment of some kind of stringed instrument. The patrons were joining in with varying degrees of success.

Tifa steadied herself and looked around, mildly disapproving. "It's pretty early in the evening to be getting this soused." Several people heard her and turned around to meet the challenger. Tifa was aware of the press of Avalanche behind her. The team filled the doorway like one giant, wet, miserable cat, but she did not back down from the stares. Just as she expected, the drinkers' scowls turned to sly grins. One of the heavier men got up and offered her a seat

"I'd be happy to buy youse a drink anytime, purdy lady, if you wanna join in the fun! Whaddya say?" He bowed clumsily and his friends encouraged him with loud hoots.

Tifa put her firm, haughty face on but she was laughing inside. This was a familiar dance. "Would you mind actually looking at my face next time you ask?" She folded her arms across her chest, smugly making sure to let her gloved fist stay visible. The men reared back with a collective, admiring, "Whoa…"

Barret nudged Cloud in the back. "Boy, don't let the woman hold those idiots off on her own if she don't have to."

"Huh?" Cloud glanced back, confused.

Aeris shook her head. "Cloud, you're so clueless sometimes." By the time the blond got the idea, it was too late.

Vincent had separated from the group to glare down at the occupants of one of the nearer booths. They slowly froze when he did not return their inebriated smiles.

"Uh, hey, uh," one of them started. "We didn't mean nothing by it." Vincent kept silently staring at them.

"Hey, uh," a second man started. "Hey, if you want the seat you can have it!" His buddies hastily agreed with him and cleared out quickly. Vincent stood aside and gestured to the available seats.

Tifa smiled graciously at him and slid into the seat. "Thank you, Mr. Valentine." Vincent held his position while Yuffie and then Aeris slid in beside their friend, echoing her gratitude to him. Vincent nodded and turned away.

"I shall return shortly," he said and wandered purposefully away.

Barret smacked Cloud upside his head. "You're completely useless, you know that?"

"Hey! I thought she was handling it." Cloud frowned, rubbing his head. "I didn't want to butt in and interfere. You know how women get sometimes."

Barret considered that for a while. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go get the rooms. And some room service to go with them." They headed to the main desk together. Red and Cait Sith trailed after them, unable to bear the noise.

Aeris sat absorbing the warmth and the good feeling all around. Drunk or not, these people were happy and it filled the room. "Way to handle the drunks, Tifa!"

The other woman grinned. "I'm in the business, after all." She tapped her feet in time to the music and looked down at her shirt. "Oh, now this is why I don't like to get wet."

The ninja blushed when she realized what Tifa was talking about. "Sorry," she murmured, ducking her head a bit. "I didn't realize." She glanced down at her own green knit top. "I don't exactly have that problem."

"Just a second, you guys." Aeris held her hands together and concentrated. Directing air was getting easier with practice. A controlled surge of heat warmed the current as it swirled all around them.

"Wow." Tifa smoothed her shirt out. "That was great, Aeris." The flower girl winked back and looked around. There was something about the strings and drums in the air.

"This music sounds kind of familiar."

"It does, doesn't it? Tifa turned to look at the far side of the wall where the noise was centered. "Oh, it's Master Sagara's group! I didn't know they were here."

"Master who?" Aeris blinked.

"You know," Tifa said, grinning. "The group that was at Cosmo Canyon. Oh, I forgot, you didn't come down that night."

Yuffie slapped the flower girl good-naturedly on the back. "Good thing you're feeling better now. You didn't miss out after all." Tifa grabbed Aeris' hand.

"Come on. Let's get a better seat!"

"What?" Aeris blurted out.

"I said come on!" Tifa pulled Aeris up out of the seat. "You've got to see this. The drummer has some great moves."

"What about Yuffie?" Aeris asked, looking back. "I don't think she should be listening to some of these lyrics up close and the crowd's kind of rowdy up front."

"Don't worry about it. I'll stay back here and watch our stuff." Yuffie waved her off. "Besides," the girl mumbled to herself, "I've been singing those folk songs since I was a kid."

Tifa was soon able to scare up a couple of places closer to makeshift stage area. An appeal to drunken chivalry worked fairly well when paired with an arm-wrestling match. Soon the two women were sitting within spitting distance of the musicians.

Aeris smiled as she took it all in. Tifa was right. This really was something that had to be experienced up close. The drummer was a handsome, smiling young man with well-muscled arms and a fine sense of showmanship. He twirled and spun and tossed his sticks in the air, and clapped in rhythm while they were airborne. Aeris had never guessed that drumming could be such an experience.

There were five others, all clad in colorful Wutan-style garb and playing strange flutes and stringed instruments that Aeris did not even recognize. They looked like a well-seasoned group, arranged on the floor around one grey-bearded man. If not for his vigorous playing and the powerful voice that emerged from his emaciated form, Aeris would have said he was well past his expiry date.

His body was apparently the only thing that was wasted. He reigned his group in with barely-perceptible signs. His fingers flew over the strings of his instrument. There was a light in his eyes from the energy in the room. He made it all seem so effortless. Aeris knew that had to be the Master.

He finished up the song with a rousing flourish and the crowd cheered. "Thank you," he said above the noise in heavily-accented continental speech, then burst into a mild fit of coughing. One of the flute players beside him stood quickly.

"A drink for the Master, please. Water, preferably." The call went around quickly for some water and soon a tray with six glasses was being passed to the front of the room.

Tifa turned around, breathless. "That was really something, huh?" Aeris nodded. Tifa glanced back at the performance area. "I'm going to go say hello to Tanjiro for a bit."

"Tanjiro?"

Tifa glanced askance with a little smile. "The drummer."

"Oh." Knowing smiles passed between the women and Tifa left the table. Aeris leaned back in her seat to take in the relative quiet around her. It was easier to make out the individual voices now. Aeris closed her eyes and let the waves of mellow happiness wash over her.

"That's the girl, right?" One voice came at her from somewhere behind her. "Why don't you go over?"

"What's the point?" Another voice, younger and more sullen, replied. "It's not going to make any difference. Why bother?"

Aeris open her eyes a bit and turned slightly to peek in the direction of the voices. She spotted two figures at a small table, a man in simple black and a teenager in a blue Wutan outfit. Aeris made a note to ask Yuffie what it was called later. The man was looking at something, or someone, at the back of the room. The boy was trying very hard not to.

"You're not looking carefully enough, Yuki." The dark-haired man nudged the boy with his elbow. "The one night Sagara-san lets you off training, she walks in. It's a good sign." Aeris was intrigued and had to try hard not to lean in too close.

The boy sighed. "If I go over there, do you promise to shut up about it?"

"Not a word more. Now get over there!"

The boy groaned in a patently melodramatic adolescent way and rose from his seat. He marched straight to the back of the room where Yuffie sat minding her own business. She spotted him when he was just a few feet away and it was too late to duck and run. They stared at each other for a long while, frozen.

"Hello," the boy said.

Yuffie looked away. "Hello."

The boy gulped. "Can I sit here?" He indicated the seat opposite hers. Yuffie shrugged.

"If you want to."

Aeris would have given anything to know what the two had said. She saw the boy sit down stiffly. Both young people studiously found other things to look at and neither appeared to be about to start an actual conversation.

The man in black turned his head and looked her straight in the eye. "It's a start at any rate, isn't it?" Aeris jumped.

It was the healer she had met in Cosmo Canyon. He smiled, obviously holding in laughter as he watched her catch her breath. Aeris put her hand to her chest and breathed deeply, in and out. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping."

"No harm done." The man took up his glass and walked over to claim the empty chair at her table. "Yuki might be a bit embarrassed if he knew you were listening, but he doesn't have to know."

"Not a word from me." Aeris smiled. She looked up quickly at the young healer's grey eyes and noted once more that he was not from Wutai himself. "You know, I never got your name."

"Adrean." He held out one hand. The flower girl took it and shook it firmly.

"I'm Aeris."

The healer leaned back and studied her for a while. Aeris wondered what he was thinking. Finally he leaned forward again, huddling in close. "You look much more at ease than you did the last time I saw you. Did everything work out all right?"

Aeris might have blushed at some other time. Now, she just nodded. "Yes." She could not keep the devious look off her face. "I caught up with him eventually. I think he's learned his lesson." A weight lifted from her shoulders. At least there was somebody she could talk to about her secrets, however vaguely.

"Good for you." The man straightened up and watched Yuffie and Yuki not talk to each other. It was almost too painful for Aeris.

"So, your friend, Yuki, he's…"

"He's Master Sagara's apprentice." Adrean turned away to give the poor children some privacy. "He stays close by me because I'm the only one in the group who can't give him grief over his music."

Aeris shook her head at the man, though she kept smiling gently. "And yet you push him into uncomfortable situations anyway."

The healer shrugged lightly. "He has to learn how to talk to pretty girls sometime." He swirled his glass around to make the ice settle. "Besides, the Master pushes him very hard. The boy's a bundle of nerves. He needs to be with people his own age sometimes." Aeris considered that.

Adrean broke her train of thought. "I did not know you would be passing this way."

"Neither did I," Aeris told him honestly. "We go where my friend leads us. This was just the next stop after Nibelheim." That brought an interesting thought to mind. The actors Shinra had hired had not fooled Avalanche, but how effective were they at convincing people who did not know the truth? "Did you pass through there?"

"No," the healer shook his head. "Sagara-san would never make it over those mountains with his health. We caught a ride in a small fishing village instead."

"Oh." Aeris tried to hide her disappointment. "So where are you headed to next?"

Adrean stared into his glass. "Wutai."

Aeris beamed at him. "You're going home! That must be wonderful after a long trip."

The man gave her a wry smile. "_They're _going home." He tilted his head in the direction of the musicians, who were drinking their water and bantering with the locals. The Master was tuning his instrument. "I haven't been home in ages." His voice was light but there was something sad in his eyes as he said it. Aeris felt sorry for her outburst.

The healer took a deep sip from his drink. "What about you? Any idea where's you'll end up next?"

Aeris had to shake her head. "None. I never really expected to come this far from home in the first place." She caught the inquisitive look on the man's face. "I'm from Midgar."

"Oh, a city girl! That must be something."

Aeris nearly laughed. Midgar impressed everyone but its own. "It really isn't all it's cracked up to be." She wanted to ask him what his home was like, but his earlier reaction kept her quiet.

Adrean picked up on it anyway. "I'm from a little place far to the south," he said, staring at his glass. "You'd completely miss it if you don't know how to look."

There was some commotion near the make-shift stage. Master Sagara was declaring the break over. Hurried last gulps were taken and the musicians moved back into place. Aeris scooted her chair around a bit and stifled a yawn.

"How remiss of me." Adrean signaled for a waitress. "Another of these for me," he said, handing over his glass, "and spiced tea for the lady." He halted Aeris' protest with a small gesture. "You've had a very hard day, haven't you?" Aeris nodded sheepishly.

The drinks arrived just as Master Sagara began to sing an intentionally off-key ditty about a jilted lover intent on drinking himself into an early grave. Soon the whole room was full of laughter and Aeris was grinning along with them.

Adrean raised his glass to her. "Here's to good journeys," he declared above the noise.

Aeris raised her floral teacup to his toast, smiling over the rim. It was good.

* * *

**A.N:** Twenty chapters! A big 'Thank You!' to all the readers. I might not have gotten this far without your prodding. Punch and pie for everybody! P I'm roughly estimating that there are about ten more chapters to go. If nothing comes up to keep me from writing, I might actually complete the story in a year. I'm treading carefully around 'Gary-Stu' territory right now. 'Yuki' is Japanese for 'snow', for anyone who's interested. 'Adrean' has an applicable meaning too and it provided a convenient anagram.


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**Disclaimer: **Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty One**

"Morning, sleepy!"

Aeris opened her eyes just enough to make out the dark shape of Yuffie's head lit up from behind by painfully bright light. The flowergirl groaned and ducked back under the covers. Yuffie huffed and shook the girl's shoulder.

"Wake up! You've almost slept half the day away!"

Aeris peeked out from under the sheets. "I have?" The surprise slid from her face and she burrowed into the covers again. "Might as well sleep the rest of it away then."

"You can't do that." Yuffie sat on the side of the bed. "Cloud already went to see if there's some transport out of here. We're just here waiting for you to wake up. Now get up or I'll eat your breakfast."

The bundle under the sheets sighed. Aeris emerged, rumpled and sluggish. "Breakfast?"

Yuffie brought a small covered tray over. "Tifa insisted we keep some for you. She figured you'd be hungry when you woke."

Aeris stomach growled on cue. She gave a little nervous laugh and took the tray. The usual traveler's hearty fare was under the dish. Eggs, sausage, biscuits, a breakfast to keep a lumberjack happy. Ordinarily, Aeris would have been missing her fresh fruit and toast, but she was too starved to bother today. A plate full of grease was just what she needed. She picked up the fork and dug in.

Tifa came out of the bathroom, still tying her hair off. "Oh, you're finally up!"

"Mph, Yuffie woke me," Aeris mumbled around a mouthful of eggs. Tifa frowned at the ninja.

"Yuffie, I told you to let her sleep!"

Yuffie shrugged. "I got tired of waiting. Watching people sleep is so boring. Besides, if I didn't wake her I was going to finish up the food. The smell was too good."

"You had three plates already," Tifa protested.

"Hey, I'm a growing girl," Yuffie hollered. Then she glanced down at her narrow form. "Well, I hope I'm growing."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Take it from me, Yuff. A large bust is overrated."

"It's better than no bust!" Yuffie swung a spare pillow at Tifa. The martial artist blocked it easily, caught it and sent it back at the ninja. Yuffie ducked and grabbed more ammunition from the empty beds. Aeris sipped her orange juice and smiled quietly at the morning's entertainment.

The others caught her look. "All right," Tifa crossed her arms and tapped one foot in mock annoyance. "What are you laughing at?"

Aeris set her glass down. "I wasn't laughing. I was smiling." It was hard to keep the smirk off her face.

"Uh huh." Yuffie leveled a suspicious glare at the girl. "That's all you've been doing for a while. Walking around dazed and smiling. What's going on?"

Aeris blinked. "I've been doing it for a while?"

"Every now and then." Tifa leaned in. "Yesterday you were positively sickening though. You had that look on your face nearly the whole day."

"What look?"

"The look!" Tifa and Yuffie were giving her their undivided attention now.

"You stare off into nowhere and get that little smile on your face. It's like you're not seeing what's in front of you." Tifa watched Aeris' face for any change.

"Yeah, like you're off in happyland," Yuffie put in. "What's up with that?"

Aeris was too full and comfortable to feel guilty. It was true, she supposed. She had spent much of her time thinking about a certain someone lately and if she got that little satisfied smile on her face, it could hardly be helped. She was happy. The Planet was happy, humming softly in the background. Now, with her friends grilling her over a low flame for answers, she did the only thing she could. She narrowed her eyes at them slyly and smiled.

"Aww, Aeris, come on!" Yuffie spun off the bed and flopped onto an empty one. The flower girl buried her laughter. Tifa took the empty dishes away, shaking her head, but she was smiling too.

"All right, Aeris. Play it that way. Hurry up and get dressed. You've had a good night's rest."

Aeris stretched and dragged herself out of bed. "I could use another."

"Man, Aeris, you've been sleeping a lot lately too." Yuffie rolled over on the bed and drooped her head off the side to stare up at Aeris. "What's up with that?"

Aeris smothered a yawn. "Nothing. Just not used to hiking so much."

"Really?" Tifa wore a little smirk of her own. "So it's nothing to do with your wild nightlife?"

Aeris froze. "What wild nightlife?"

"I saw you talking to that guy last night," Tifa teased.

"That's hardly wild, Tifa," Aeris said, rolling her eyes. "We were just talking."

"And he bought you a drink too, I see." Tifa grinned.

"Wow," Yuffie rolled over again. "Aeris letting some strange man get her liquored up? I should have paid more attention."

"It was just tea!" Now it was Aeris' turn to swing a pillow. Yuffie caught it full in the face. "And he's not a total stranger. I kind of know him from Cosmo Canyon."

Yuffie tossed the pillow away and flipped off the bed. "Cosmo Canyon? When did you meet anybody there?"

"I just bumped into him while I was wandering around," Aeris said quickly. "I better hit the shower before Cloud decides to leave us behind." She sprang lightly towards the bathroom, leaving any more questions behind her.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud met the women in the lobby just as they finished checking out. "I think I've found a way out of here. Everyone keeps saying that the Captain's the one to talk to."

"Captain?" Tifa wondered.

Barret swung the door open for the rest. "Yeah, Captain. Seems he's like the mayor around here. He was supposed to be a rocket pilot before the space program got canned or something."

Aeris joined Yuffie outside in craning up to get a look at the mammoth rocket. Even aged, it was impressive.

"Wow," Yuffie stared up in awe. "Too bad it's tilted like that."

Aeris made a small sound of agreement but she couldn't help but think that the thing was well-proportioned and set at just the right angle.

"You've got that naughty smile on your face again, Aeris," Tifa said. "What's so funny this time."

"Nothing!" Aeris straightened up and blushed.

"Mmhmm," Tifa took in her friend's reddened cheeks. "I'll take your word for it."

They found the Captain's house easily enough. Every Rocket Town native knew it. Aeris was surprised to find a neat, pretty little house with a well-tended yard. It was a lovely place and she might have admired it more if not for the aura of tension surrounding it.

None of that mattered now. They needed a way to get out of town, some faster transport than their own feet could provide. They filtered into the yard after Cloud. The blond knocked on the door but there was no answer.

"Maybe the Captain's out back," Barret suggested. Cloud nodded and headed around the side of the house. There, he found exactly what he needed.

"Tiny Bronco, eh?" He scratched his head. "Not bad. Looks big enough." Aeris came over to inspect the thing. Maybe she would finally get her plane ride.

"It's great!" She ran her hands along the paint.

The back door creaked open and a mousy little woman came out. "Um, may I help you with something?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris sipped her tea and set the cup down on the saucer. It had been a soothing blend and that was good. The entire day was turning into an exercise in futility. They had tracked down the Captain and he had absolutely refused, in very colorful terms, to let them have his plane.

He had been more than willing to talk though. Just about everyone in the town had a story of some sort to tell. Maybe that was why tea was so popular here. Tea was a leisurely thing, made slowly to be sipped over conversation. Pleasant conversation. Aeris forced herself to take another sip.

She felt a little guilty about taking advantage of Shera's forced hospitality. The poor woman felt she owed that gruff old Captain something even after saving his life. Aeris could understand indebtedness, but that kind of subservience, and to such a mannerless, ungrateful lout just didn't sit well with her. Now she knew what kept this pretty house from being a home. She glanced at the scruffy smoker across the table. All he cared about was himself, his tea and his plane. Aeris wondered how a plane could matter so much to a person. Highwind didn't deserve the kind of attention Shera gave him. He had not even thanked the woman for the tea before he sat down to wait for Shinra. Aeris stared into the bottom of her teacup. She wondered if a good fist to the face could fix him. It had worked well enough on better men.

She shook her head to get rid of that thought. She just was not thinking like herself lately. Everything seemed just a little bit different now. If Tifa and Yuffie could notice that she was behaving differently, she would have to keep a closer eye on herself.

The door swung open and everyone looked up. The fat man in the doorway waddled in. Aeris felt her skin crawl just looking at him. He waved one jiggly arm at them.

"Hey-hey, Cid! Long time no see! How ya been?"

Captain Cid Highwind bounced out of his seat. "Palmer, you fat ass! How long were you figurin' on keeping me waiting? When's my space program starting up again?"

Palmer hopped up and down a bit. "Hey-hey, I don't know. The President's outside so why don't you go ask him?"

Cid pounded the table. "Fuck! You good-for-nothing fat ass!" He ran outside and Cloud followed. Aeris listened to Palmer give his tea order to Shera and had to escape outside too. She almost stepped headlong into a full-blown argument between the Captain and the young Shinra President.

Rufus paid no attention to the people clustered in the doorway. He did not even seem to notice Cloud. Aeris shrank back against the door, keeping her eyes on the men. Rufus was slick, calm and confident. The youthful bravado in his tone did not sit well with her. His ego was clearly in need of instant deflation. And Highwind…

The Captain was throwing every dirty word in the book and quite a few new ones at the young President. The scandalized six-year old inside Aeris wanted to block her ears but some kind of morbid fascination kept her still. The man's inventive profanity was spectacular.

Something touched her shoulder. She stepped aside to let Shera edge through. Maybe the woman did not want Highwind making a scene in the front yard. Aeris was surprised when the woman made her way over to Cloud instead.

Whatever Shera said, Cloud turned around, looking determined. He marched back into the house. "Follow me, guys. We're getting us an airplane."

They spilled out the backdoor to find Palmer nosing around the little red plane. Cloud planted his feet firmly in the ground. "We'll be taking that Tiny Bronco!"

Palmer jumped and turned around. "Hey, don't I know you from someplace?" His beady eyes glittered as recognition set in. "I know! When the President was killed!" He looked around wildly. "Security! Security!"

Aeris leapt forward and hit him with a violent fire spell. Cloud grinned back at her and drew his sword. Palmer was not going down easy. He pulled out a gun of some kind and began firing at random.

"Don't fan out!" Cloud ordered. "Don't surround him, just force him away!"

Palmer made a rude gesture. "I can hear you, stupid!" He fired. Yuffie rolled along the ground, narrowly avoiding the blast.

"Oh, it is on now, fatso!" She threw her shuriken out and just nicked the man.

Aeris geared up to run in and do her part. A firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned back. Vincent kept his eyes on Palmer as he spoke. "Using your staff is unwise here." He let go of her to aim with his shotgun. His aim was good.

Aeris sank back. She would have loved nothing more than to jump forward and beat that piggy with her staff but Vincent was right. Getting in close was not smart when there were bullets flying. She knew where her real strength was. She felt her materia hum slightly each time she attuned them to her signal and drew the power out. The Planet song roared around her, willing to lend her strength. The pressure was intense. Aeris refused to give in. The Planet was offering too much, more than she felt she could handle. If she tapped that strength unfiltered by the materia, there was no telling how big a chunk of the backyard she could blow up.

She struggled to keep the surge of power under control. She released it in tiny bursts of blinding lightning and heat. Palmer stumbled back, wheezing. They were wearing him down. Cloud charged and Palmer ran into the street as fast as he could. Aeris heard the blast of a large vehicle coming down the road. The threads of inevitability revealed themselves and she turned away flinching.

"Oh, God!" Tifa shrieked. Aeris shut her eyes tighter, focusing only on a dull mechanical rumble.

"Forget that!" Cloud yelled. "Get in the plane! It's moving!" There was a race towards the little plane and not for the first time, Aeris regretted the fact that she had gotten caught up in things while wearing a dress.

The plane would not stop. Cloud leapt aboard and held his hand out for the rest. Red leapt aboard with ease and Yuffie sprang in close behind. Cloud pulled in anyone who reached for his hand. Aeris tried to catch up.

"Come on, Aeris," Cloud yelled. "Take my hand."

The plane was picking up speed, taking Cloud and the others further away. Aeris cried out. Then something cold and hard wrapped around her waist. Her feet left the ground and she flew threw the air, safely gripped by Vincent's metal arm. The tips of the claw dug sharply into her side, for a moment, but then she was through the hatch of the plane and Vincent was setting her down. There was no room for him inside so he latched onto a wing. Aeris hardly had time to get her bearings in the cramped cabin before a loud yell drew her attention.

Yuffie pressed her face against the far window and looked back. "It's that old pilot dude."

"Hey," Highwind yelled and chased after his plane. "What the hell do you crazy motherfuckers think you're doing with my goddamned plane! You sonuvabitch! Bring my baby back here, you little shit!" His tirade was interrupted by gunfire. There was a loud noise and something hit the tail end of the plane just as it was leaving the ground The Tiny Bronco bucked in the air and everyone inside slammed together in a sweaty cramped heap. Cloud swung out into the open air, just barely keeping his grip on the door.

"Oh shit!" Cid's voice seemed much closer now. "The tail's been hit. Fucking Shinra!"

"Holy cow!" Yuffie stared back as far as she could see out of the window. "That looney's hanging off the plane!"

"So's Cloud!" Barret grabbed the blond's arm but the plane was going too fast by then for pulling someone it to be easy.

Cloud grinned up at the others in the cabin. "This is going to be an emergency landing." The plane dipped perilously as if it had heard him.

Aeris joined Yuffie against the far window to get away from the open door. Cid was crawling over his plane like a monkey, trying to get away from the sparks. Aeris could only see a leg and a white knuckled hand from her position.

"Aw, shit! This is going to be one hell of a big splash!" The little plane continued its downward dive. Aeris instinctively curled herself up into a tight ball. She heard the pilot yell something about underwear.

The plane dipped. Aeris' stomach lurched. A lifetime passed as they fell out of the sky.

They did not explode on impact as Aeris had half expected. The sharp fall softened quickly and sent them tumbling all over one another. Tifa managed to grab hold of Barret's belt to keep him and Cloud from tumbling into the water.

The plane sputtered and drifted to a stop. Aeris took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. They were not about to sink and that was no small relief. That whole flight had been terrifying, but amazing. The lift, the soaring, the sensation of moving through nothing. Airplanes were amazing.

The girl straightened herself up, much to Yuffie's relief. Barret wanted to yank Cloud inside, but there was hardly any room. "Swing me onto the wing," he said. "It's safe now."

There was a metallic ringing across the ceiling. Cid was standing up. "You think it's safer? You gonna change your fucking mind when I'm through witcha, you fuckwad! Look what you let Shinra do to my plane!"

Aeris stuck her head outside and saw him pushing up his sleeves and flexing his fingers. The girl swallowed. "Uh oh."

Cid geared up to confront Cloud. "I'm gonna fix your ass, boy!"

Cloud visibly braced himself. Cid was pulling his hand back for a punch when Vincent stopped things from getting out of control simply by pulling Cloud out of the way with his claw. The sight of the golden metal limb shocked the pilot still for just the crucial moment.

"What the fuck is that thing?"

Vincent stared quietly for a long time. The only movement was the plane bobbing on the water. Cloud took a deep breath.

"We can't stay on the water forever."

The Captain nodded. Personal issues had to take a backseat to survival. He spun around and swung himself into the plane. "Get out of the way. I got to get my baby started again."

Aeris sank back to the floor and tried to stay out of the way.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cid lay flat on the Tiny Bronco's wing with his arms dangling over the side. He slid further to feel the blood rushing down to his head. A little more and he could fall over the side and drown.

It was all over. His repair attempts had failed. He could only do so much out in the middle of nowhere. Even if he had been back at his hangar, there was not much he could do. His plane would never fly again. He wished he could fully blame the blond boy next to him, but that Strife had not done the shooting. He had actually tried to keep that fat bastard, Palmer, from making off with the plane. Cid made a raspy sigh. It was over. He had no rocket. He had no airship and Shinra was even trying to take his beaten up little plane from him.

He turned his head and took in the sight of all these strange people sitting all over his plane. They were spread out over the wings for balance. Cid felt just a little bit of pride in the fact that the Bronco could still float with all the extra weight, even after all she had been through. It was her last great flight.

"She'll never fly again," he moaned. All his hopes and dreams were dead, buried and damn well rotted now. Everything he had ever lived for was gone. There was no pretending that things would come around. He was just a rat, doomed to spend his days crawling over the earth with the rest of them. The girl in pink sighed along with him as if she understood something now.

"Can't we use it as a boat?"

Cid blinked. The blond was looking over at him expectantly. "Do whatever the hell you want."

"What are you going to do now?"

Cid dangled his arms a bit more. "Dunno. After this stunt, I'm through with Shinra and I've given up on the town."

Cloud scratched his head. "What about your wife? What about Shera?"

Cid sprang up at that. "Wife? Are you fucking nuts, kid? Shera ain't my damn wife! Even the thought of that makes me sick!" He did not notice the glare the women leveled at him. "What are you going to do?"

Cloud stretched. "We're going after a man named Sephiroth. We'll have to go after Shinra too at some point."

Cid thought it over. He had no plane, no position, no family, nobody worth returning to. "What the hell. Sign me up!" Cloud blinked and glanced at the others. Tifa stood and straightened her shirt. They had gotten the man's pride and joy blown out of the sky, after all.

"Sure, no problem."

Cid grinned. "Glad to be aboard, numbskulls!"

"Numbskulls?" Cloud frowned even though that had been the nicest thing Cid had called them all day.

"Yeah," Cid continued, still grinning. "Anyone who goes up against Shinra nowadays has got to be a numbskull." He pulled a pack of cigarettes out from the band of his goggles and lit one up. "I like it!" He took a deep drag on his cigarette. The girl in pink spluttered and coughed and tried to wave the smoke away. He ignored her. "So, where are we headed? Rufus said he was going after Sephiroth too. Something about the Temple of the Ancients."

The girl perked up at that. Cloud seemed interested too. "Really? Where is that?"

Cid shrugged. "Dunno."

Cloud looked out across the sea. "Okay then. Let's just get to some land. Then we can get information."

The giant red cat leaned forward. "I think there's a mountain that way."

The short-haired girl stuck her head out and looked. "Wutai." She had a strange grin on her face.

Cid took a puff on his cigarette. "Wutai, huh? I always meant to go there. Never got the chance. Might as well." He swung down to get the propeller going. His baby would never fly again, but he was still her pilot and he would steer her where she had to go.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Far away, a man in black stopped mid-flight. He hovered above the grass as the sun sank. Yet again, one element of his plan was not quite falling into place. He sighed.

"Would you believe it, Mother? Now he's going to Wutai."

"_The puppet being diverted again is no surprise at all,"_ Mother replied. _"Neither is what you're about to do, by the way." _

Sephiroth arched one eyebrow. "And what am I about to do, Mother?"

"_Be insufferably male, of course."_

Sephiroth smirked and stared in the direction of the land that had made him glorious. The item he was seeking was vital, but it could wait. It would do him no good without the puppet anyway. Somebody had to make sure the blond did not get himself into trouble.

And Wutai, for all its blood-soaked memories, was a good place to think when things were quiet. With the war over, things had been quiet for years. Wutai, with its many glistening rivers, was a lovely place for communing with nature. There was an energy there, something pristine. Wutai was far from Shinra's prying eyes. Something there had always freed Sephiroth from decorum and restraint. He liked Wutai even if it did not like him. It would be good to see it again, to sort out his head on the high peaks of Mt. DaChao or in the water gardens near the Imperial Palace. Maybe _she_ would like to see them.

Sephiroth grinned wolfishly. If this was what Mother considered insufferably male, so be it. He shot through the air into the setting sun.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud scoped out the terrain in the fading light. "Here's as good a place as any. Let's make camp." A group gasp of relief went up as backpacks hit the ground.

"Got anything edible?" Cid inhaled his sweet, sweet nicotine. The Tiny Bronco always had supplies in case of emergencies. He had a small tent and a thermal blanket and some basic medical supplies, but in the corner of the pack where he had always meant to put some non-perishable goods, he had stashed a big carton of smokes instead.

"We have travel rations," Tifa offered. "We usually hunt or forage if we need extras but we're okay for now."

Vincent stood. His red eyes flashed in the dark. "If you are willing to wait a while," he offered, shouldering his rifle. "The dark does not hinder me."

Tifa looked around at the group. The circle of tents was going up as usual. The ride in had been rough but the shore was nearby for washing and she was up to a little pluck-and-gut if the hunt did not take too long. "Well? Everybody?"

General shrugs and half-interested agreement sounded from all around. Tifa knew they would be more enthusiastic once the smell of a cookfire and a hot meal reached them. She turned to Vincent again. "Sounds like a 'yes' to me." The man nodded and walked away.

Red padded up alongside him. "If you don't mind," he said, turning his one yellow eye up to the tall man, "I can hunt in the dark as well." Vincent nodded slightly and they marched out of the camp together.

"Right then." Tifa smoothed her skirt down. "We're going to need a fire."

"I got it," Cloud said. He dropped a bundle of twigs onto the ground and knelt down to get the fire going. "What the fuck?"

Everyone turned around. Tifa was about to chide Cloud for picking up a certain pilot's bad habits but the way he was examining his armor and weapon stopped her. He looked up, half-panicked. "My materia's gone."

"You lost your fire materia?" Barret asked.

"No!" Cloud stood and looked around frantically. "I lost all of it!"

"Materia, eh?" Cid's cigarette glowed brighter in the dark. "Damn weird stuff. I never messed with it much myself."

Barret waved his gun at the crowd. "That's just damned careless, Cloud! That stuff's not cheap!"

Tifa stepped forward. "Maybe they fell out when you were hanging from the plane. Don't worry. We can get more. You can borrow mine for the fire." She reached for her armlet and froze. She had to look again to be certain. She swallowed. "Mine's gone too."

"What the-." Barret made a quick check. "Aw, hell no! When did this happen?"

Tifa looked around the camp. "Does anyone still have materia?"

The wave of panic spread through the camp. "None here," Aeris breathed.

"Cait?" Tifa asked. "Yuffie?"

"I've got nothing," Cait Sith peered down his megaphone. A silence came after him.

Aeris spun around. "Where's Yuffie?"

There was no trace of tent, shuriken or ninja. Cloud walked to the edge of the camp, laughing nervously. "We're in Wutai, aren't we? And Yuffie's from Wutai." His laugh strayed slightly into the realm of hysterics.

"So you're saying she went home?" Aeris fingered her bare armlet.

Cloud laughed again. "With all our fucking stuff!" He laughed harder and harder. Aeris wondered if she should slap him out of it.

A gunshot sounded off in the distance. Cloud jumped and grew still. Aeris looked out the way Vincent and Red had gone. "Do you think we can find her?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "We'll have to."

Tifa shivered. "We can't go now. Not into strange territory." Cloud almost winced. They had grown so dependent on their magic. Now they were almost crippled without it.

He nodded. "You're right. Come morning, though, we're tracking her."

"Hey," Cid flicked his cigarette butt to the ground and ground it under his heel. "Shouldn't we try to get to her with a fresh trail or whatever?"

Cloud considered it. A loud roar sounded from the distance. "I'd rather follow a faint trail in daylight when we can see what's coming." Tifa nodded. Cloud looked around. "Pull the tents in closer. Make the circle tighter. I'll take first watch tonight. Barret, you second." The big man nodded.

Aeris spotted approaching shapes in the dark. She could tell from the movement that it was only Vincent and Red returning to camp. "We need to get that fire started."

"Right. It'll keep predators away." Cloud bent to the task. Aeris walked over to do the job. She did not need materia. She whispered silent thanks to her lover for teaching her.

Cid butt in first. "What're you gonna do, boy?" he asked. He lit yet another cigarette, oblivious to Cloud's stare. "You gonna rub two sticks together like they teach you in the army?"

Cloud propped himself up on one knee. "Actually, I was thinking of borrowing your cigarette lighter."

"Good," Cid said, taking a deep drag. Then he realized what Cloud had said. "Aw, shit. Look, don't waste the fluid, okay?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris slid out of her tent with her empty canteen in one hand and her staff in the other. She was getting far too good at this sneaking business. Cloud was dozing lightly, propped up against his sword near the remains of the fire. He had discarded the remains of the meal some distance from the camp to avoid attracting scavengers. The small animal had just been enough to go around and add some variety to a dry travel ration diet, but it had left Aeris terribly thirsty. The closest water was the ocean, good for washing up but not for much else.

The Planet answered her need. A faint ripple ran through its song. There was fresh water nearby, but out of sight. She edged past the tight ring of tents. She could hear snores within. Her foot caught on one of the supports but she steadied herself in time. The slight canvas rustle was enough to rouse Cloud. He jerked awake.

"Where are you going?"

Aeris felt her stomach sink. She calmed herself and looked back. "I have to go."

Cloud stared blankly at her. "Why?"

"I have to go, Cloud," she repeated with a pointed glance for emphasis.

Even in the faint orange firelight, she saw him flush. "Ah, okay then. Don't…go too far. I'll come looking for you if you take too long."

"Don't walk in on me, please!" Aeris tiptoed along, alarmed. She felt Cloud's eyes on her back until she turned past a large rocky outcropping. The rippling melody was closer now. She did not have far to go at all.

What she found was a thin sliver of a stream in the darkness. It was just deep enough to fill a canteen. Aeris uncapped hers and bent to rinse it out properly. She gasped when her hand touched the stream. Mountain water was always so cold.

Something flapped in the darkness ahead of her. Aeris almost lost her grip on the canteen. Her other hand tightened on her staff and she sat up straight, looking ahead.

Sephiroth emerged from the shadow of a rock. Aeris sighed in relief. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

He knelt down on the opposite bank of the stream. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Our plane crashed." Aeris shook her canteen out and refilled it.

"So I heard."

Aeris looked up at the man and smiled as she took the drink she was craving. "It's funny…"

"Crashing?" Sephiroth tilted his head at her.

"No, silly," She filled her canteen to the brim again and covered it. "I meant meeting you here like this. It's how we first met."

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "It is, isn't it? Opposite banks of the water." He seated himself comfortably on the ground. This stream was so narrow that all they could just reach across the water to touch each other.

"Yes." Aeris smiled dreamily up at the sky. "Opposite sides…I prefer what you were wearing back then though."

"But I wasn't wearing any…oh." Sephiroth shook his head at the girl. Aeris watched his silver hair ripple like a waterfall in the weak light. He was beautiful. He turned his eyes on her and she felt the breath leave her body. He chided her playfully. "You have quite a naughty streak, young lady."

"Who's fault is that?"

Sephiroth did not answer. He stared at her for a while, then stood and crossed the stream in two steps. He took care not to splash too much water near her. Aeris began to rise to meet him. He caught her shoulders and pulled her towards him. He pulled her off the ground as he claimed her mouth. Aeris arched into his body, eager to feel as much of him as possible.

Sephiroth sank to his knees, taking Aeris down with him. He lowered her to the ground a bit roughly and stared down at her. She was breathless and had that beautiful smile. He smiled back at her as he stroked her hair, then leaned in for another taste.

Aeris rolled out from under him, evading his lips. "No, Seph."

"What? Why not?" The man sputtered. "Are you still tired from the last time?"

Aeris shook her head. "I can't stay out here too long. Cloud's up and he might come looking for me if I don't go back in time." Aeris sat up and hugged her knees. "He thinks I'm…taking care of business."

Sephiroth sat up, frowning. "Why isn't he asleep?"

"Somebody has to keep watch." Aeris stuck her hand in the water to feel it flow between her fingers. "Yuffie," her voice hardened as she said the name, "Yuffie stole our materia. We're without instant defense."

"Kisaragi Yuffie?" Sephiroth was surprised.

"You know her?" Aeris asked.

Sephiroth's lip curled in distaste. "I …am acquainted with her family."

"Oh." Aeris edged closer to the man and pressed against his side. He got the hint and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned in heavily against him. He could smell her hair. It was pleasant. More than that, it was wonderful, holding her like this again. Confused as he was about his reaction to her, he had to admit, it was very, very nice. "I guess you know a lot about Wutai," she was saying. Sephiroth was so busy enjoying her warmth and her scent that he almost missed it.

"I do." He knew his enemy well.

Aeris put one hand on his lap. "Does it bother you? Coming back here, I mean. With the war and all."

The swordsman shook his head. "It does not bother me. Wutai is a lovely country. Stubborn, spirited, proud, but lovely all the same." He sounded almost wistful.

Aeris tried to gauge his mood by his expression, but he was staring off into the distance. "You like Wutai?" He nodded. "That's the first I ever heard from anyone who was in the war." She shuddered, remembering stories from Zack and assorted rumors and grapevine tales. The Meaningless War as a dark stain in the past. "People lost so much during that time. Land, peace, family."

Sephiroth was pensive. "I was lucky," he said. "All I lost was a finger."

Aeris looked down at the two perfect hands linked across her stomach, then stared up at Sephiroth, wide-eyed. He glanced down at her and his fingers twitched just a little. "It grew back."

Aeris kept staring. "How'd you lose it?"

Sephiroth sighed. She had asked, and like a fool, he would answer. "At the end of the war, the Military leaders were asked to oversee the signing of the relevant treaties by the Noble Houses of Wutai. I was ensuring that one Lord did as he was supposed to when his young daughter pounced on me with a large kitchen knife." He caught the rising laughter in Aeris' eyes. He knew what was coming.

Aeris could not hold back anymore. "A girl caught you off guard and came at you with a kitchen knife? And you couldn't defend against that?"

"Well, I couldn't very well risk injuring her just as we were forging peace with her father!" Sephiroth scowled. "She was just a child. She couldn't have been more than ten and she was wearing this little pink kimono. How threatening do you suppose she was?"

"Threatening enough if she got your finger!" Aeris fell backwards laughing. "I hope you learned your lesson."

"Oh, I did." Sephiroth leaned over his lover. "Never underestimate girls in pink." He bent down to nibble her throat and she happily let him.

A scuffing on the ground in the distance made him stop. He stared out in the direction of the sound like a hunting cat with on the alert.

A voice came around the rock. "Aeris? Are you there?" Aeris sat up, breathless and pale with shock.

"I- I'm okay, Cloud," she called back.

"You sure?" The voice was coming closer. "I thought maybe you lost your way. Stay there, I'll come take you back to camp." The green-eyed lovers shared a panicked glance. Aeris sprang to her feet.

"Don't you take one step closer, Cloud! I'm not done!"

"Oh." Cloud was blushing. Aeris was sure of it. "I'll…I'll just wait for you here then."

"Um," Aeris said. "This might take a while. You should go back to camp."

"Uh, you sure you can find your way back?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now do you mind?" Aeris was exasperated. She had to get rid of him somehow "You better not be peeking!"

"Oh, heck no! I'm not…into that kind of thing." Cloud's voice seemed a bit fainter. "See you at camp."

Sephiroth and Aeris stood listening for the longest minute of their lives. Finally, the tension left Sephiroth's body. "He's gone." He took Aeris' hands and kissed her fingers.

Aeris pulled away reluctantly. "I can't stay tonight. If I don't return to the camp soon he'll just come looking again."

Sephiroth made a disappointed sound. "I wish you didn't have to go. I can't get any sex, I mean _sleep_, without you!" He stepped back, shocked at his slip.

Aeris gave him a sly look. "You see that it stays that way, mister!"

"Yes, ma'am." Sephiroth nodded. "Are you sure you can go back on your own?"

The woman secured her staff and canteen. "I came out here alone, didn't I? It's not far." She got up on tiptoe to give the man a sweet parting kiss. It was a gentle one, but full of promise. It ended only when Aeris' quivering knees threatened to give way beneath her. "I'll be all right," she promised as she drew away.

"I know you will be, girl in pink." Sephiroth brushed stray hair from her face. "I'll see you soon."

* * *

**A.N:** This fanfic has recently been featured on Mediaminer. Thanks to Chibichibikawaii / Sicklilselphie for nominating it. :D


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty Two**

Hiking through Wutai was dangerous business. At times the entire narrow strip of the country seemed to be nothing but mountains and steep cliffs that dropped off into the sea. Narrow bridges, their wood half-rotted from frequent damp, spanned dizzying gorges with water churning far below. The way those bridges swayed while travelers crossed did not help matters. Footing was precarious and the wildlife was decidedly hostile.

The days dragged on and progress was slow. Without materia, the group could no longer run headlong into confrontation with anything that crossed its path. There was no defense other than what they could maintain with their own weapons, no way to heal beyond Aeris' small herb collection and her own focused efforts. Cloud insisted that they tread more cautiously than ever, observing the tracks in the dirt and the sounds on the wind with an intensity he had not bothered much with before. Their nightly camps were hushed and tightly drawn, always guarded.

They passed small towns and simple villages as they went but there was no sign of Yuffie. Each stop was a further disappointment. Either Yuffie really had run straight on to her final destination or the villagers' inborn wariness of foreigners made them keep their silence.

Aeris found it thoroughly frustrating. Questions were met with silence everywhere but their money was still good. They could get basic supplies and simple foodstuffs. There was not a materia to be had anywhere though. Taking care of every nick and cut and potential infection for days on end was wearing the Cetra to the bone. The Planet was more than willing to help, but Aeris had never had to channel so much of its energy with such frequency before. She missed her materia.

It took no effort to focus the right kind of power once one had the right materia. Even a human could do it. Having to sift through the streams and order the energy herself, then bear the brunt of the force through her own body was a rare necessity. It was exhilarating at times, but this near-constant submersion and openness to the Planet's consciousness was dangerous and exhausting. Sometimes, after the evening's group healing session, she almost swore she could feel herself being flayed away.

She curled up in her sleeping bag and tried to gather herself. She had to shut everything outside out and find the quiet of her own mind again. She took a slow breath in, then forced herself to go over the scattered memories of the day and ground herself in reality. The fragments swirled around, disconnected, subsumed by a consciousness larger than her own. She pressed on anyway and the pieces gathered slowly, calling to the missing slivers to make the picture whole.

She really had to learn to tell her friends 'no' once in a while. The horrible swelling Tifa had experienced from some insect bite had definitely needed attention. Highwind's encounter with some toxic weed did not. He could very well put up with a mild rash for a day or two even if, as he insisted, the grass had attacked him first. She would not have minded helping him if he had bothered to thank her afterwards. Aeris was certain he was just a bit too used to having a woman tend to his every need without question or complaint. The males were not all hopeless, though. When she had treated a gash on Vincent, he had thanked her with a quiet, elegant reserve that once might have made her blush.

She was beyond blushing for just any little thing now, she noticed. She quickly grasped meanings that she had not previously caught behind the men's sly remarks to one another. When she turned away from something that had not been meant for her ears now, it was not to hide reddening cheeks. Today, when they had stopped for a brief water break, she had caught Barret's question to Vincent, complete with crude gesture, on the workings of the pale man's metal arm. She had almost choked on her water. Even now, as she rolled onto her back, she had to fight a scandalized giggle. Her mind turned more often now, to naughty, forbidden things and that in itself was funny. Now that she was no longer 'innocent', everything was a big, dirty joke.

Aeris stretched herself out, pulled the thin cover of her sleeping bag tightly around her and settled in to try to sleep. She wondered what Sephiroth would think of her newfound appreciation for the indecent. She hoped it would not disturb him too much. It probably would not, she reasoned. It was his fault anyway and maybe he would like not having to walk on eggshells around her delicate sensibilities anymore.

She missed him. She had not spoken to him since the night by the brook. There had been no chance to get away lately, not with the men keeping watch over the tight circle of tents all night long. Red XIII had even taken to lying across the entrance to her tent during his shift, a fact she learned when she had tripped over him a few nights earlier on her way to genuinely take care of a personal matter. There was no way for her to sneak out. There was no way for Sephiroth to sneak in, as great a soldier as he was.

She murmured his name softly. Sometimes, while they walked, she thought she saw some sign of him, a blur moving quickly out of sight in the distance, or grass bent and broken into the shape of a boot print. She smirked in the darkness. It was a very large boot. If only there were some way to escape the camp, just for a little while.

Aeris drifted into half-sleep thinking about it. She did not hear the soft clicks of the zipper to her tent but she did feel the cold blast of air when the covers were ripped from her. She flinched and tried to cry out but a heavy weight settled on her and a gloved hand stopped her scream. Lifestream-colored eyes burned down at her within a curtain of silver hair.

She glared up at the man even as she relaxed beneath him. He leered smugly at her as he removed his hand. Aeris tried to sit up but he pressed her back down. "Sephiroth, what are you doing in here?" She remembered to whisper only at the last moment, but it was still harsh and far too loud for comfort.

"Shh, hush, dear." He began pulling his gloves off with his teeth. "We'll have to be quiet."

Aeris watched, spellbound, as he began to work the clasps of his coat. She found her tongue while he was working on his belt buckle. "Seriously, Seph, how did you get in here?"

He ran one greedy hand down her body as he answered. "Simple infiltration. Nothing beyond a great SOLDIER." He gazed down at her form with pure, unadulterated lust in his eyes. "Gods, I need you!"

Aeris felt a deep thrill shake her and she met his hungry lips eagerly. He was not the only one with needs. She struggled to get her arms up under his weight. He had not bothered to fully undress and the buckles and straps dug painfully into her skin. It matched the work he was doing with his teeth along the side of her neck. The tent shook a bit as he tried to kick the folds of his coat out of the way and hit the support poles instead.

"Careful!" Aeris hissed. "You'll wake everyone up!" She tried to free her hair from under her and only succeeded in jostling the side of the tent some more. There was just not enough space.

"No I won't." Sephiroth moaned and pressed his entire weight along the length of her body. "We just have to be really…" he stopped to settle himself between her legs. "Really…" He gasped and wriggled his pants down just enough. "Quiet."

Aeris felt the heat of him slapping against her inner thigh and shivered. "I can be quiet." She rolled her hips upward to meet him. He leaned in and attacked her shoulders, clawing at her body and burying his growls in her flesh. Aeris fought to get her legs up. The leather and metal of his coat kept getting in the way.

He pressed in closer and his breath was hot in her ear. The things he whispered to her were neither sweet nor soothing. He may have been genteel while winning her, but he was a soldier, accustomed to the ribaldry of a war camp. He told her now exactly what he planned to do to her, and how, in the crudest terms imaginable. Aeris moaned and reached up to lock her limbs around him as he bore down.

Her grasp closed on empty air. She sat up, unimpeded and looked around, gasping wildly. There was no one there. The remnants of a restless dream flittered away, leaving her with her body's breathless, aching response to a lover who had not been there. Her hands fisted in the thin sleeping bag and she cried out in frustration.

"Aeris! Are you okay?" Cloud's worried voice came from outside her tent. "What's wrong? Did something get in?"

Aeris frowned at the zippered flap of her tent. "No," she grated out and hoped she had not sounded _too_ sullen.

There was a rustling all around the camp. Her cry had woken the others. Questions started coming from all sides.

"What's the matter?"

"Is the girl all right?"

"Aeris? Something wrong?"

Aeris let go off the sleeping bag and pushed her hair back. "No, nothing's wrong. I just…had an unusual dream."

"Are you scared? Do you need company?" Tifa asked. "Hang on a moment. I'll come in and stay with you."

Aeris scrambled for the covers in alarm. "Wait! I'm naked!"

A slow hush descended on the camp. "Uh," Cloud sounded uncertain and abashed. "You sleep naked?" Aeris rolled her eyes.

"When I'm alone, yes." She did now, at any rate.

The silence grew thicker outside. Vincent spoke first, his voice a calm murmur. "If there is no real emergency, I will be returning to rest." There were general mumbles of agreement and the camp settled down in a flurry of whispers and flapping canvas.

Aeris settled back down herself but she was too restless to sleep. The others were probably reeling at her little admission, but it wasn't anything they had a right to comment on. She pulled the covers up to her chest and tried to rest. It was not easy with her body still pulsating with need.

The light silvery melody ringing rushing through the back of her mind did not help. The Planet was happy, even mirthful. "Oh, what's your problem?" Aeris growled and pounded the stuffing of her sleeping bag flat. The song grew a bit louder and wilder. Aeris shook her head. The Planet was laughing. "Fine. Make fun of my misery, will you?"

The Planet's consciousness brushed against her own and directed her attention to the swirl of life immediately around her. One coil in particular shifted as its owner paced back and forth. The tint of it spoke of a certain degree of embarrassment. A soft, shocked whisper reached Aeris from beyond her tent.

"I can't believe she sleeps naked!"

Aeris pressed her hand to her mouth to hold the laughter in. Poor, long-suffering Cloud. He would probably never look at her the same way again. Aeris closed her eyes. "I don't suppose you could tell me where _he_ is, could you?"

A soft swell of regret touched her mind and faded away. Sephiroth was somewhat cut off from the Planet stream, at the door, but forever outside it. "It's okay," Aeris murmured soothingly. "I'll catch up to him sooner or later."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sephiroth found his way north easily. The terrain was familiar. He had no men to watch out for or direct and there were no spies out to watch his movement. He would have spotted them if there were any, but given the terms of Wutai's surrender it was highly unlikely. The imperial army had been almost annihilated and what was left had been disbanded. Beyond the ceremonial guard in the capital and the proud martial tradition upheld by a significant portion of the population, Wutai had little in the way of force to offer opposition.

He took a deep lungful of the morning air as he skirted the edge of a steep cliff. The air was fresh and clean and now free of the stench of gore that tainted many of Sephiroth's memories. Even though the nation had been forced to recognize Shinra sovereignty, there were no mako reactors here. Wutai's mako lay so far beneath the surface that accessing it would not have been profitable enough for Shinra.

He paused on a narrow ledge, his back pressed against the bedrock, to get his bearings. A narrow strip of green spread out beyond the mountain. White surf silently washed each shore. The carved face of Mt. DaChao rose up in the distance. Beneath it spread the pagodas and water gardens of the Wutai capital. Sephiroth squinted. The colors really did seem a bit more garish than he remembered.

This city had been the crowning jewel of the Lotus Kingdom, the seat of the Great Lord. Stripped of its resources after its defeat, the country had been forced to turn to tourism. Sephiroth had only witnessed the start of the decline of Wutai's understated elegance, when the heritage of refined entertainment began to give way to showboating performance. He really hoped things had not gone too far in the years he had been gone. The Kisaragi girl would be headed here and he had resolved to follow her, if just to make sure that the puppet would not lose track of her. But if following Lord Godo's brat meant being surrounded by tacky two-gil souvenirs, Sephiroth was going to hike away and let the blond deal with his problems alone.

"_Enjoying the view?"_ Mother asked.

"Of course." Sephiroth put his attention back to his task, skirting his way across the narrow ledge. "Aren't you?"

"_It's good enough, I suppose."_ She was silent as Sephiroth concentrated on handholds and avoiding rubble. _"Oh, why don't you just float down and save yourself all this grief?"_

Sephiroth hung tightly to the cliff face. "A challenge is good, sometimes." The end of the ledge was near and there was level ground ahead, if he could just turn the corner. He reached out for another handhold, inching along. There were just a few more feet. "An exercise like this develops concentration. It keeps the mind sharp and focused on what's important."

"_Is that so?" _Mother went cold._ "What's that term these humans use nowadays…ah, yes. You're full of it."_

"What?" Sephiroth's hand slipped and he dangled dangerously over the side, clinging with one hand and watching pebbled disappear beneath him. He clawed his already-cramped fingers into the rock and swung a long leg out to reach a foothold. He grunted and pulled himself in.

"_I said you're full of it, Sephiroth. You could stand to be a bit more focused nowadays but there's no need for you to do it by risking your neck."_

Sephiroth concentrated on catching his breath. "No need, maybe, but I felt like it."

Mother seemed interested._ "Care to tell me why?"_

Sephiroth moved another few inches along. "Why what?"

"_Superior focus indeed"_ Mother sighed. _"Why exactly do you feel that you need to focus on climbing a rock?"_

Sephiroth pressed closer to the rock and rested with his cheek against the cliff face. "You've been telling me for a long time that I spend too much time thinking about things other than the main objective. I thought this would be a good way to clear my head."

"_Well, it's worked, as far as I can tell." _Mother rolled in his head_. "You haven't thought of her all morning." _

All of Sephiroth's reserve went through the window. "Why did you have to bring that up?"

"_The same reason I bring anything up. I'm curious."_

Sephiroth shook his head and resumed edging towards the plateau. As usual, Mother refused to let the matter lie. _"Has something gone wrong? Is the fascination just not what it used to be? Why are you avoiding thinking about her?"_

"Trust me, Mother, you really don't want to know." He was grateful for the submersion in an intense physical activity. It kept his blood flowing right.

"_I want to know, Sephiroth,"_ Mother pried and put the slightest pressure on his mind. _"Why don't you want to think about her?"_

Sephiroth stopped a foot away from the plateau. He really could not afford a headache in this position. "Thinking about her these days keeps…giving me hand cramps. I can't take much more."

There was a brief period of silence. He felt the foreign resignation rolling around his head. _"Young men."_

Sephiroth reached around the corner of the rock and swung himself onto the plateau. He was not winded, but he appreciated a less precarious place to sit and enjoy the view. If he looked hard enough, he could almost make out the people scurrying through the streets of the city below.

There were miniscule spots of red and purple and green in the streets, common Wutai colors. There even seemed to be a few in a shade reminiscent of Turks' blue. Sephiroth kept staring hard down the mountain for a while, but there was no hint of pink and his eyes were beginning to burn.

He leaned back, closing his eyes. Now that Mother had brought it up, he could not help thinking of Aeris. It really had been too long since he had seen her.

"_Too bad you didn't get to scratch the itch that last time. If you'd had your fill you probably wouldn't be feeling the need to hang off a rock now."_

"It wasn't a good time or place, Mother." Sephiroth squirmed inside. "And do we really have to talk about this? There are some things a man is meant to keep to himself!"

"_I am concerned for the well-being of my spawn," _Mother intoned with a grandiosity intended to feign sincerity. _"And if problems with his…relationship…are affecting the rest of his life, I will do my best to help him, no matter what my own feelings on the situation may be."_

"That's nice, Mother, but I'm a big boy." The swordsman laid back and stretched out on the stone with his hands under his head. The sky was a perfect blue overhead. "I can handle my relationship alone."

"_Yes, well, you certainly have been doing that."_ Mother flitted around, seeming somewhat discomfited.

Sephiroth wrinkled his face in distaste. There really was no need for her to bring that up. Just the thought that Mother might be paying attention when she wasn't supposed to would be enough to put a damper on his solitary nighttime activities. At least she still seemed to find it too uncomfortable to stick around much as long as Aeris was present.

The man sighed and wondered what his little lover was doing at that very moment. The group had to be getting close to Wutai by now. They should not have had too rough a time of the journey. He had cleared most of the larger beasts as he made his way, though he did not wipe them all out. Their absence would make somebody, if not Strife, suspicious and it would not do to make the puppet even more complacent about matters of security just when he was showing some promise. Aeris had to come to Wutai proper safely so Sephiroth could be with her again.

"_Barely five minutes without hanging off a cliff and you're already thinking about her again,"_ Mother put in. _"So much for developing focus."_

"I developed it," Sephiroth protested with what he was sure could not be a pout. "I just didn't bother to maintain it."

"_You're just looking for any excuse to moon over the girl."_

Sephiroth could not deny it. Thinking of Aeris filled him with a lightness he had experienced too rarely in his life. The memory of her face made him calm and relaxed. The breeze was cool. The sun was warm. The sky was bright blue and the clouds were so fluffy. Funny how he had never really noticed that before.

"_You should have spirited her off when you had the chance,"_ Mother spat out. _"Then you could have had your way with her and worked it out of your system so you wouldn't be throwing those calf-eyed gazes up into the sunshine anymore. Honestly, boy, you're positively sickening!"_

"I am, aren't I?" Sephiroth's voice was dreamy. "It wasn't a good time to make off with her, Mother," he said slowly, soaking up the sun with a smile. "And I don't need to work anything out of my system. If I did, it would have been gone already."

"_So you mean,"_ Mother twitched, _"this…situation…is permanent?"_

Sephiroth considered it for a while. "It might be. I suppose in the back of my head I might have always meant for something of a very long-term nature. I never expected it to go this far or this deep, but it's not bad, actually. Not bad at all." He sat up and stretched his arms. It was time to move in closer to seek his lady. "It's not just _that_, either. Just talking to her is nice too."

"_Talking."_

"Yes, Mother, this thing you and I are doing now." He stood, grinning. "Though if you don't mind me saying, she's the more pleasant conversationalist." He felt Mother's light seething, but he was too high-spirited at the moment for it to touch him.

"_You're just saying that because she lets you do all the talking."_

"But she likes to listen, Mother," Sephiroth protested lightly. "She keeps asking me to talk. And it feels good to make her smile. And laugh. It's wonderful to make her laugh"

"_Even if what she's laughing at is you?"_ Mother asked wryly.

Sephiroth laughed himself. "Even so." He walked to the edge of the small plateau and began searching for footing to make his way down the steep slope. He wanted to be just outside the city by nightfall.

Mother sighed. _"The problem's worse than I'd feared."_

"What problem?" Sephiroth asked blithely, picking his way through loose rock and gravel.

"_You're a big boy, Sephiroth,"_ Mother said, drifting away. _"Figure it out yourself."_

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow as she left him. Figure it out, he would. He loved a challenge. He continued walking carefully down the mountain, leaning backwards a bit to keep from toppling forward but otherwise paying little attention to his descent. Every step sent loose rubble skittering down the slope.

Obviously, this 'problem' Mother spoke of had something to do with Aeris. Mother had not been as insistent that he get rid of the girl as she had been at first, lately. Sephiroth supposed that was because she had seen there was no stopping him in this matter. She had once said something about letting his 'madness' run its course. If this was madness, Sephiroth could not see it ending soon. He did not want it to end.

There really was no problem that he could see. There was nothing wrong with enjoying the company of a beautiful woman. As avoidant as he had been out of necessity years before, there was something to be said for feminine charms. Aeris had those charms in spades.

Well, not in the very common sense, he supposed. She was not the especially curvy type revered in a barrack yard, or the stick-thin kind worshiped by the camera, but he adored her figure all the same. She was not tall, but her legs were beautiful, even more so when wrapped around him. She had a sharp, eager mind and a sharp tongue to match, when it came down to it. She was willing to actually listen to what he said and she was not afraid to comment on it either. Other women had gotten him talking only so they would have time to demonstrate the obscene things they could do to cherry stems.

His mind's eye flitted past images of women he had seen and known, who had been considered beautiful. They did not raise a flicker of interest now. Only Aeris, with her quiet, almost innocent grace and that mischief in her lips could hold his attention now. He remembered vaguely that there had been some larger purpose to bedding her, but he could not remember what it was now. No matter. It would come back to him eventually if it was really important. He sighed happily. He had her and that was good.

Old memories, half-fragmented, floated up and away, stirred by his dredging. None of them mattered now. He would see Aeris soon and he could not ask for more. Just the thought of it flooded him with anticipation. His heart fluttered as if seeking release from his chest. He almost thought that it wanted to fly away. He could not blame it. He wanted to fly away too, up into the bright sky with Aeris, away from everything else.

One drifting memory surfaced close: a fellow SOLDIER, that damned Zachary in fact, smiling and doing what he did best, talking, waxing philosophical, his hazy eyes seeing only a dream. _"You'll do anything for her, anything! She's in your head all the time and you don't even want to get rid of her. Nobody else matters. And when you feel like flying, man, that's when you really know."_

"Oh no!" Sephiroth felt his heart thud with the shock. "I'm in love!" His next step sent him tumbling on a slide of loose shale. Too surprised to regain his footing, he rolled all the way to the bottom of the mountain.

* * *

**A.N:** Oh, the evil…XD


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**Disclaimer: **Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is made from this work. Original content and characters are mine.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty Three**

"Wutai at last!" Tifa stared in awe up at the surrounding architecture. "I always wanted to come here."

"Did you?" Aeris watched the sun glint off the wind chimes hung in every porch. Every building, down to the smallest item shop, was a study in exotic artistry to eyes used to the plain grunge of Midgar.

"Yep. My master Zangan studied here. He always said there was no place like it. And it's the best place for martial arts on the Planet." She skipped a bit as they crossed an elaborate red bridge over a shallow stream. "Of course, with the war on for so long, there wasn't much chance for me to come here to further my training." She stretched her arms back. "Well, maybe one day."

Cloud looked back at them. "Later. We have to find Yuffie."

Barret crossed his arms, a little uncomfortable surrounded by gilt and carvings. "Think anybody here's going to talk?"

Cloud shrugged. "Only one way to find out." He looked around for someone to talk to, but most of the people he could see were a bit too far away and edging further off. "They sure don't like foreigners around here. Let's check the stores. They probably can't duck out from behind a counter too quickly."

He headed for the closest shop, by-passing the private residences. The team spread out in the small space. Some of the local shoppers edged away with quiet whispers. Cloud pretended he did not see. He went right up to the counter.

"I'm looking for a girl named Yuffie. Have you seen her around here?"

The shopkeeper turned to his buddy. "Yuffie?"

The second man looked Cloud up and down. "Yuffie, Yuffie…that sounds familiar. Too bad I can't recall."

Cloud noticed the man's fingers making the universal 'grease me' sign. He sighed and glanced at the list painted up behind the two men. "What are fire veils?"

The first man looked up with a hint of the devil in his grin. "Oh, those are excellent for travelers. They're good offense against just about anything you might run across out there. Really good if you have no materia."

Cloud groaned. The things were a bit steeper than he would have liked, but he did need information. If they could not find Yuffie and retrieve their materia, they would need some kind of added protection anyway. "I'll take…" He did some quick calculations in his head. "Six."

"Six it is!" The man turned away and Cloud reached into his pack for his cash, glad that at the very least, the bounty system for monster kills operated fairly in most places. People took their safety seriously these days. Shortchanging anyone willing to risk a limb in that line of work would spread the word, decrease the flow of fighters and let the offending place be overrun.

"So," he began as he counted out the gil, "you don't know anything about Yuffie?"

The second storekeeper tightened his bandana. "We know _a _Yuffie. But she wouldn't be the one you want." He made a show of pretending to inspect his nails. Cloud held his sigh in. It was starting to look as if the entire Wutai nation was a bunch of scalpers and conmen. They were all about parting the traveler from his money. No wonder Yuffie did what she had done.

"Give me two of those potions with that." Just two. Cloud had to let them know that they could not dip into this well forever.

"Well," the man drawled while his partner packaged the goods. "The Yuffie we know is a noblewoman." He looked Cloud up and down. "So she probably wouldn't have much to do with you."

"Even if she is a scrappy excuse for a princess herself," put in the packager. His partner turned around and glared at him.

"Princess?" Cloud was completely confused.

"Yeah, princess." The man tried to pretend the slip was of no consequence. "Lord Godo's daughter, the little Kisaragi Yuffie."

"Uh huh." Cloud nodded as he waited for change. Tifa leaned over his shoulder as he lifted the bag off the counter.

"Yuffie's a princess? All that time she was singing when she was drunk, I thought she was, well, drunk!"

Cloud was baffled now. "Yuffie got drunk? When was this? How did I miss it?"

Barret thumped him on the back, grinning. "You was passed out drunk yourself, Spike."

"Hmm." The blond blinked. "Okay. So Yuffie's royalty. Now what?"

Cid scratched the scruff on his chin. Maybe it was time for a shave. "I say we go find this Godo fella and ask him where the hell his little girl is."

"You can't just walk up to a king and ask him where his daughter is!" Barret protested. "Besides, we don't even know if his Yuffie is our Yuffie or if our Yuffie even is a Yuffie. Our Yuffie's a thief. She could be a damn liar too."

Cloud sighed. "We might as well try. We don't have any other leads." He walked past the others to find someone who could give him directions, someone who might not try to get his cash for the trouble.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_So,"_ Mother began, _"you think you're in love."_

"Well, love is said to hurt and I certainly hurt enough," Sephiroth grumbled. He had rolled and rolled and rolled downhill until a very large tree got in his way. Now he was stuck in a very uncomfortable position, with splinters and rocks working their way into his skin and his beloved sword lying just out of reach. Looking at things upside down was not helping matters. He considered his next move.

It took a little bending and stretching to get his legs down to the ground. Then there was some more work with aching muscles to uncurl himself without snapping his neck. He put a hand on the blistered tree trunk to pull himself up.

"_You made quite an impact there."_

Sephiroth grunted. His clothes were covered in dirt, his hair was filthy and he was sore all over. And he was in love. Things could not possible get worse. He looked up at the trees. "How did I get this way?"

"_You tripped and rolled down a mountain, Sephiroth." _

The soldier slammed his head into the tree trunk.

"_Son, don't do that. You'll get splinters."_

Sephiroth crumpled to the ground. "What am I going to do now, Mother?" He felt her sigh in his head.

"_Why are you asking me? You were the one claiming to have a plan all along."_

The man turned his face up again and closed his eyes against the filtered light. "I had a plan. This wasn't in it." He sat still, unable to think for a long time. A cloud passed over the sun and left him in a deeper shadow. He opened his eyes slowly. He had to get up.

"_Ah, good. You're moving."_ Mother actually sounded relieved. _"I thought you were going to sit there moping all day. I'm glad you're taking action again."_

"Actually," Sephiroth looked down at the depression he had left behind in the soft earth. "I got up because I was sitting on a pine cone." He took a deep breath and moved to retrieve the Masamune. Mother was right. He could not sit down forever. If he cut through the forest he would be able to skirt the edge of the city and find somewhere quiet to wait. For Aeris.

He was starting to get a headache. "This is terrible." He half-heartedly pushed a low-hanging branch out of the way. It flapped back and hit him in the face. He sighed. "Love makes you suffer all kinds of indignities. I suppose all this is love in action."

Mother was cool in his mind. _"I wouldn't know. It's a human affliction."_

Human. Sephiroth considered that for a moment, but quickly brushed it aside. He needed to decide where he stood on this. He sorted through the confusion and the shame to squeeze his hurting brain for everything he had ever heard about the nature of the feeling.

"Love makes you stupid. Have I been stupid, Mother?"

Mother writhed a little. _"How would you define 'stupid', exactly?"_

"Oh Gods, that's a yes." Sephiroth rubbed his temples. "Next I'll be composing sonnets and writing love notes and showing up at her doorstep with flowers!"

"_You've already done most of that, Sephiroth."_

"But it was just a tactic to get her into the sack!" Sephiroth wailed. "It wasn't supposed to turn into this! When did it happen?"

"_Why are you asking me? I don't know."_ Mother spun. _"I did warn you though. That girl is dangerous."_

"Yes, she is," the swordsman declared, marching swiftly forward. "She's a devious, beguiling, curvy-hipped, full-lipped, enticing little witch and she started hexing me the moment she turned those pretty eyes…oh, no." Thoughts of Aeris were beginning to have their usual effect. Sephiroth stared down at the fold in his uniform. "You have no sense of decorum, Mister," he hissed. The offending appendage showed no remorse. Sephiroth growled. Feeling half your age was supposedly a good thing, but at the moment, he could not agree. "Leave it alone and it will go away. Leave it alone and it will go away."

"_Are you talking to me?"_ Mother bristled.

"No, no," Sephiroth tried to cover quickly and pull his thoughts away from his problem. He would just sink through the forest floor if Mother realized what condition he was in.

"_I've already realized, Sephiroth."_

Sephiroth groaned.

"_Should I go away so you can take care of it?"_

The man felt like dying from the shame. Fortunately, the rush of blood to his face instantly took care of the problem that led to the embarrassment in the first place. He breathed slowly and tried to compose himself.

"How long have I been acting silly over her?"

"_I'd say from the moment you saw her,"_ Mother said with a sense of resignation.

"You mean it was one of those 'at first sight' deals?" Sephiroth stumbled. "No, no, no, no, no, that can't be it. It was strictly about getting her to spread." Memories crept in of how he kept himself in check when he did not have to, how he said anything and did anything just to make Aeris smile. "Honestly, it was! It used to be." He was getting desperate now. "This is awful," he grumbled and picked his way through the trees.

"_So you've said,"_ Mother replied dryly. _"Several times, in fact."_

"It bears repeating." He straightened up, angered that something like this could have caught him unawares, or worse, that he had actually courted the unnecessary danger. "I'm glad no one really knows I'm around. The tabloids would have a field day with this. 'World's Greatest Soldier Ambushed By Cupid'."

"_Done in by a cherub. That is embarrassing."_

Sephiroth headed for a clearing he spotted a short walk away, reciting headlines all the while. "Popular Times Magazine: General Meets His Match. Tactics Weekly: Sephiroth Downed by Little Pink Dress. The Midgar Sun: Most Eligible Bachelor No Longer Available."

"_Is that what has you so bothered?"_ Mother snorted. _"I'm sure they kicked you off that list when you were reported dead."_

"You're not helping, Mother."

"_I tried to steer you away from things before you got in too deep. What more do you expect me to do?"_

"Do something!" Sephiroth stepped into the clearing. "Help me!" Then he froze.

The clearing was actually someone's well-tended garden. The path was made of very fine, white gravel and an elaborately-worked red bridge crossed a wide, green pond. Small insects rose and sank in the air, hovering over water-lilies. Iridescent wings flashed in sunlight. Tall trees, their green boughs naturally rounded, rose straight and proud over the hills to the side. Small, dark-leaved plants clustered in the shade. Across the bridge was an elegant building in the traditional style, painted in the faded red ochre shade of the Wutai Sephiroth remembered. There was nothing garish about this place. It bore the spirit of old custom and elegance, enduring the test of time.

The owner stood just across the pond, staring at Sephiroth. It was a woman, a little older than he was, but good-looking still. She must have taken as much care of her looks over the years as she had of her house and garden. Her hair was tied tightly at the nape of her neck and the end of it trailed nearly to the hem of the delicately patterned blue kimono she wore. Her lip twitched a little and she motioned Sephiroth over the bridge with a move of her head. "I thought I saw a black and white boulder roll down the mountain this morning."

Mother flitted away to let Sephiroth give the situation his full attention. The man scowled. "Ayame, everyone thinks I'm dead. Why don't you look at all surprised to see me?"

The woman waited patiently at the end of the bridge for him. "You know I trust no sources but my own, General." Sephiroth huffed and marched over. He glanced up furtively at the building as he approached the woman.

He frowned at the surroundings. "This isn't in the hanamachi, is it? Why did you move out of the entertainment district?"

Ayame turned to lead him inside. "I have given up the willow life."

Sephiroth stopped. "You gave up being a geisha? Why?"

The woman gave him an odd little smile. "I got tired of having my hair done up with wax all the time." She sighed. "There is very little room in today's Wutai for the preservation of the old arts. The young people are not interested in long apprenticeship and the clientele…expects more it should."

Sephiroth almost scuffed his boot on the gravel. He had been a little guilty of that himself, at first. Luckily for him, Ayame had inexplicably taken a liking to him and had gone about correcting his gaijin miseducation.

"This house is old on the outside but it has been renovated. I have modern conveniences," the woman offered as she went up the short stairway. "You could take a shower, unless you prefer the bath."

Sephiroth's boots were a heavy counterpoint to the light clacking of Ayame's own footwear. "You would let me?"

"You're covered in dirt, General, and you look worn and tired. It is only fitting that I see to the comfort of my danna."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I'm not your danna if you're not a geisha and I'm officially deceased."

Ayame smiled at him with a mockery no geisha would entertain. "Official word does not matter when you are standing right before me, General, and the financial settlement that found its way to me after your reported demise is what allows me to maintain my livelihood as I see fit. You are as much my danna now as you were then." She slipped her geta off at the door and waited just inside the entrance for Sephiroth while he worked on his boots. "Besides, you just asked me to help you, didn't you?"

Sephiroth kept his head down as he yanked his boots off. That situation, that this woman still considered herself bound to him in that manner, was discomfiting. He let his hair fall over his face so she could not read his expression. The woman was gifted, and worse, schooled in arts that did not quite befit one of the flower and willow life. The arrangement he'd had with her had been a convenient one, but Ayame often turned her talents on him, sometimes at his request, sometimes not.

He followed her into the house and waited in silence as she scrounged up a light robe and a towel for him. "The bathroom is that way." She pointed down the hallway. "Leave your clothes outside the door. I'll wipe the dust off the leather for you."

Sephiroth wanted to tell her not to bother, but there was something forbidding in her manner. Now that he had experience to measure it by, he could call her attitude almost motherly. She was a rather bossy nag and capable of causing him pain. He really was starting to miss Aeris' slightly less inflated sense of self. He set his sword down against the wall and went where he was directed.

He showered quickly, working the lather roughly over his skin and helping himself to Ayame's shampoo. It was probably one of her own blends. It smelled richly of fruit and herbs. Sephiroth only considered the suitability of such a scent for him after it was too late. His hair was already dripping suds. He rinsed himself even more thoroughly than he had scrubbed and stumbled back up to the center of the house.

He found Ayame pouring tea with little ceremony. He shook his head as he knelt before her. Even after all this time, she remembered his preferences. He wondered if it would ever be like that between him and Aeris. He pictured Aeris in a kimono. She would look intriguingly different in one, he decided, especially with a wide silk obi just begging to be undone.

Sephiroth shook his head violently. He did not want to think of that girl here and now. Thoughts of her just kept leading him into a bigger mess. He looked around, desperate for anything to take his mind off her. He spotted Wutai's famed Pagoda of the Five Gods through the doorway. Ayame really had moved away from the entertainment district.

"Why did you move here?"

"It is a convenient location." The woman barely looked up from the tea. Sephiroth studied her. She looked almost the same as she had when he had known her. Maybe a slightly deeper crinkle in the corner of her eyes...

"For observation, you mean." Sephiroth narrowed his gaze at the woman's head. She had been useful for that, after the war, keeping an eye on things and an ear to the wall.

"Of course," she replied. "Now stop staring at my head and take your tea." The man took the cup and stared down at it. "It's just tea, General. I've never put anything special in it unless you asked me to first."

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow at her over the rim of the cup and took a tentative sip. "Not counting the first time, of course."

"Obviously." She lifted her own cup. "But we had not come to our agreement then, so it is of no consequence."

Sephiroth took another sip and stared into his cup for a while. He felt neither hunger nor thirst these days and he hoped everything was still functioning normally. He hated to think about where the tea might go otherwise. He sipped again and glanced at the Pagoda in the distance. "You haven't by chance observed anything… interesting lately, have you?"

"Back to business, I see." Ayame sipped delicately. "The heiress has taken to traveling in search of a way to restore Wutai's glory. She returned from her travels yesterday, considerably more weighed down than when she left. She visited her father and quickly returned to her own dwelling in town. Rumor has it that the argument precipitating that revolved around Lord Godo's plans to get his child to behave in a manner befitting the Lady of Wutai."

Sephiroth snorted. "The day that brat acts like a princess will be the day Hades gets an ice hockey team." Ayame ignored him, though she did glance at the little finger on his right hand.

"The tourist trade has trickled off for the year. I suspect it has something to do with the instability and terrorist uprisings reported in Midgar lately. People don't feel safe traveling. The largest group we've had lately all came bearing weapons. Traveling fighters, it would seem. The Turtle's Paradise is doing very well at any rate. There are a few steady drinkers here on vacation. They all seem to be in the security business, so it's unlikely that they would feel threatened by much out there." She spared Sephiroth a small glance and continued giving a report hidden in a cocoon of gossip and small talk.

"One of Wutai's more persistent visitors is also here, allegedly inspecting business interests. He's picked up a taste for the most bastardized forms of Wutanese decorating and controls the market for such exports to the East continent. It's been good business." She paused. "Better than his other, lesser-known dealings at any rate, but I have a feeling that his stock is going to plummet soon."

"Hmm." Sephiroth set his cup down. He remembered the Don, vaguely, and only for the man's disturbing resemblance to the old Shinra president. "Any particular reason why?"

Ayame leaned back on her heels and sat up straight. She pulled out a fan from her obi but did not open it. She held it in both hands instead "He got himself into some trouble with the other visitors this morning while you were in the shower. He expressed his intentions to a couple of young women in a completely uncouth manner. His methods have always been questionable, but this time he took things too far and crossed the wrong people. Common sense would dictate that one should not anger people who walk around openly armed. The associates of both women followed him up Mt. DaChao to sort things out."

The soldier glanced outside to judge the time from the shadows. "Your sources work quickly, Ayame."

"Good ones should."

Sephiroth exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. It was comfortable here. The tea felt good and warm inside him. The yukata he wore was a change from the heavy armor and leather he wore constantly now. He felt exposed without the weight on him. He wondered what Aeris would think of him in Wutanese garments. "Where are my clothes?"

"In the room next over. I cleaned them the best I could under such short notice."

Sephiroth nodded, then added a quiet 'thank you' as an afterthought. She accepted his gratitude gracefully. She did not try to fill the space that followed with any kind of conversation at all. She recognized the man's contemplative expression. He was distressed about something. She did not know what it was, but she knew well enough that inane chatter would only aggravate him. She had other ways to calm him down.

Sephiroth rose after a few quiet minutes. "Thank you for your hospitality, Ayame, and your silence." The woman nodded, knowing that he referred to the larger silence that was part of their agreement. No one would know he had been here.

There was a tension in his shoulders. His brows were furrowed down just a little and he stood staring at his sword for a bit longer than necessary. Something was definitely bothering him. Ayame was well-trained in ferreting out secrets. At the very least, she had yet to find out where he had disappeared to and why he had returned. The General required an oblique approach, a distraction, or something to put him at ease. She stood.

"Is there anything else you require of me, General?"

"No." Sephiroth glanced back at the woman and had to turn right around to look again. He stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide.

The various sashes to Ayame's kimono lay in a heap on the floor. With nothing to hold the excess up, the woman's robe hung to it's full length. The hem pooled on the straw mats. The folds almost invited the parting gesture that Ayame was clearly welcoming.

Sephiroth shook his head a little wildly. He had not come for this. It was his privilege as the woman's danna, it was true, and he had rarely hesitated before, but things were different now. What Ayame offered was only release, part of their convenient arrangement. It had never been anything else between them and something in him would not settle for that now. "No," he said, more firmly than he had at first, then he turned away. "I do not require anything of that nature from you, Ayame."

There was a silence behind him, then a soft gasp. "Great Leviathan," the woman whispered. "There's someone else, isn't there?"

Sephiroth whirled around. Ayame had not moved, but she was now as surprised as he. Sephiroth composed himself, upset at his open reaction. The woman had always been too good at reading a person. Their close association had given her as much information about him as she had given him about other things.

She smirked at him. "Imagine that. The reclusive General has actually found another."

Sephiroth huffed. "Jealous?"

Ayame shook her head. "Why should I be? I'm not your wife. I'm just wondering what it is you're getting out of this other one, besides the obvious."

The soldier frowned. It sounded so dirty when put that way. "It's not like that," he said dourly.

The former geisha rose an eyebrow at him. "This one's all about the entertainment then? That's oddly impractical of you. I suppose there's less danger in it now that you're officially dead."

Sephiroth glared at the woman. He would not stand for her insinuations about what he had with Aeris. Ayame glanced up at the open anger on his face and knew she was on dangerous ground. She wrapped her arms around her waist to remove the offending openness of her robes from the equation.

The swordsman relaxed once the threat of impending nudity was gone. It was a simple misunderstanding, that was all, blown out of proportion. He stared out the doorway again. Aeris was somewhere out there in the city, maybe halfway up Mt. DaChao. He started as he recalled the details of Ayame's report. What if Aeris had been one of the Don's unfortunate targets? He sent himself flying right into the puppet's head and was relieved to find that not only was the entire mess taken care of, but that it was the Kisaragi brat that Corneo had gone after. It seemed there was something like justice in the world after all.

Ayame was watching him closely when he returned to himself. "Where did you go?"

"I was just checking up on 'the other', if you must know." The words did not come out quite as coldly as he would have liked. He was too relieved and amused for it. "She's fine."

The former geisha studied the small smile that crept onto the General's face. This was certainly unusual. "Oh my." She covered her mouth with one hand. "You're in love."

Sephiroth stared at the woman. "How did you…"

"A woman knows these things." Ayame smiled at him, warmly this time. "You could have just said it was like that earlier. It changes everything. I'm happy for you." Sephiroth sighed and looked away. He was usually better than this at keeping his secrets. He didn't know what he would do if she decided to have one of those fine feminine bouts of romanticism.

"What are you happy for?" he said bitterly. "Being in love never did you much good."

The woman sighed wistfully. "Not all loves are meant to be fairytales." She drew herself away from that line of thought. "Well, I've had years to get used to my situation and in any case, we are talking about yours."

"We are?" Sephiroth lifted an eyebrow in challenge, trying to worm his way out of this.

"We are," Ayame declared simply.

The swordsman snorted. "_You_ can do the talking. _I'm_ not saying anything."

"Of course you aren't." Ayame waved his anger off with a flick of her fan. She had ways of drawing things out. One only had to aggravate the man just the right amount. "It's a wonderful thing though, isn't it? When's the wedding?"

Sephiroth sputtered, just as she had hoped he would. "Wedding? What wedding? There's no wedding, woman!"

Ayame feigned shock. "Why not? Haven't you proposed yet?"

"Of course not!" Sephiroth stormed off to the far corner of the room. "It's much too soon for that."

The former geisha hid her expression behind her fan. So it was a young relationship. "You haven't gotten around to discussing such things with her?"

Sephiroth looked firmly away and cleared his throat. "We haven't really… discussed much lately."

A hot and heavy relationship. "Have you even thought about it?"

"It crossed my mind once." Sephiroth stared up at the ceiling. "I didn't mention it to her," he said quietly.

Ayame took a small step towards the man and directed her question to his turned back. "Are you planning to?"

The man thought hard. "I don't know."

"Does she know of your feelings?"

"I'm not sure."

Ayame narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not sure what to do about any of it, are you?" she asked. Sephiroth shook his head. "Hm," Ayame nodded as if she understood. "Don't let the chance slip by you, General. This situation calls for bravery as much as any battle would."

Sephiroth turned around slowly. He appeared to be considering it. He closed his eyes. "I never expected it to happen."

"No one does," Ayame said gently. She knelt down and retrieved her sashes and fan. "Could you please help me retie my obi? If you remember how, that is."

"I remember." Sephiroth stood behind the woman to help her with the wrapping. He had to run through the procedure quickly in his mind to be certain he knew what he was doing. Together they made a neat enough job of it, though it took quite a while.

"Is she pretty?" Ayame asked quietly, turning around.

"She's beautiful," Sephiroth answered instantly. Ayame flicked her fan open dangerously close to his face and held it there. She blinked coolly up at him.

"I'm going to let that one slide, General, because you're in love and it's expected that you'll be a bit stupid, but no woman ever wants an honest answer to that particular question."

Sephiroth recalled one of the minor reasons he had avoided more normal romantic entanglements before. Women had too many strange rules. He eyed the edge of the fan, knowing he had just escaped the worst paper cut of his life.

"Come," Ayame removed the fan and directed him with a tilt of her head. "Your clothes are this way."

She led him past paper-screened walls and delicate sliding doors into a smaller, cluttered room. Her musical instruments were neatly stowed away on one side. There were shelves of books, a large chest with many drawers and a small writing desk with loose, textured paper, possibly handmade, lying all around it. There were framed pictures as well as scrolls on the walls. His clothes hung airing near the window. Ayame took them down and held them out for him. Sephiroth took his coat and pants and clutched them to his chest. He looked around uncomfortably.

"You might as well change here, General. It's nothing I haven't seen before."

The swordsman stared blankly.

"Fine, I won't look." The woman busied herself setting her desk and papers in order.

The man snorted, but he turned his back towards her before he loosened the robe. It was true that he had nothing to hide from the woman, but the thought of her watching unsettled him somehow. His naked body was not part of her business anymore. He stared at the wall in front of him while he dressed.

There were neatly framed pictures hanging all around, mostly of Ayame's fellow geisha or maiko, the apprentices who must have been in her charge at one time or another. Most people only ever saw geisha at their elegant best but these pictures were somewhat different. The hair and makeup was mostly as expected but the smiles were perhaps a bit broader than the women normally allowed. There was little sense of formal arrangement in those relaxed poses. Ayame must have taken those pictures herself at some stolen time when the women were not entertaining at a teahouse. She was a sneaky devil with her camera, Sephiroth recalled as he buckled his belt.

He wandered slowly around the periphery of the room. There were images of sakura and sunset views from Mt. DaChao. The subjects of amateurs, really, but with a hint of an eye trained for pertinent detail. There were a few men in some of the photos, most likely guests at the teahouses. None of them dominated the picture. They were instead some distance away, lending credence to Sephiroth's belief that Ayame had been operating on the sly. He moved to take a look at the next photograph. He only had time to discern the outline of a dark-haired man before Ayame stepped up and quickly slipped the frame off the wall.

"Not this one, General," she said breathlessly, clutching the frame to her chest.

Sephiroth frowned down at her. "Why not?"

The woman drew herself up straight. "You have your secrets. I have mine."

The man narrowed his eyes at her, but conceded with a small nod. There were things Ayame never would tell him, just as there were things he would not tell her. He wished he was as good at inferring possibilities from a person's posture and turn of phrase, but his own expertise at ferreting out information involved dark rooms and very bright lights. And maybe one or two instruments of torture. He sighed and turned away, pretending to continue his circuit of the room while he worked on his buckles. His attention remained on the woman.

Ayame stared down at the picture she held for a while then tucked the slender frame deep into her obi.. Sephiroth hid a frown behind his thick fall of hair. The look on her face was subtle, but familiar. The swordsman had seen it fairly often on his men's faces when they read letters from home during the war. Or on his Second-in-Command's face when the pest began to drift on about his girl. Or on Ayame herself on the odd occasion they stumbled onto a certain subject. It was a wistfulness and dreaminess and a vapidity that when combined, formed an expression that the former General had once heard aptly described as the 'sick puppy look'.

Love was downright sickening. Sephiroth huffed quietly and turned back to the wall, hoping to the high skies above that he had never had that expression on his face. It was ridiculous.

He fastened the last buckle on his coat and looked up, frowning. There was not enough in the room to distract him. He could only stand so many pictures of geisha and they were everywhere. Geisha in blue, geisha in green, geisha in pink. That last one made remnants of the early morning's lightness flutter inside him. He squashed it down just as quickly. He refused to think about it. He refused to think about Aeris and the way he felt with her. And he absolutely refused to think about the coming night. He scouted around for another color.

There was one picture of a geisha in black, white and grey, tucked in near the edge of the bookcase. Sephiroth walked closer, hoping that the somber tones would settle him. What he saw convinced him, irrevocably, that today was just not his day.

"Woman, why do you still have this thing?" He spun around, fanning the spark of outrage in the hope that it would burn away the abominable _fluffiness_.

"Oh, that?" Ayame tilted her head and stepped closer to observe the picture. "I couldn't very well throw it out for anyone to find and I couldn't bear to destroy it." She traced the edge lightly with one finger. "It's one of the best pictures I've ever taken."

Sephiroth snorted and crossed his arms across his chest. "I bet you just keep it around to congratulate yourself on how sneaky you are."

"That too." Ayame smirked. "But even you have to admit you look handsome in it." Sephiroth huffed again and childishly turned his back on the woman. The geisha shook her head at him. "Honestly, General, it's not as if I caught you naked on a bear-skin rug."

"That would be infinitely less embarrassing." All Ayame would have had to do to sneak a picture of him in the buff was pull the sheet aside while he slept. It would have been a simple prank, easily accomplished and easily brushed off. But easy wasn't good enough for a woman trained to intrigue. No, the woman had contrived some manner to get him into full Wutai regalia. At least the kimono had been of a masculine design, dark grey, with a soft sheen and an elaborate dragon embroidered in black. Sephiroth remembered that he had actually felt pleased with the whole thing when Ayame finished dressing him in it. It wasn't the clothing that angered him at all.

It was the bloody parasol she had thrust into his hands immediately afterwards. That and the unexpected blinding flash of the old camera. Sephiroth cursed the day he considered getting her a modern sort of gift. Now, hung on her wall for her perpetual viewing pleasure, was proof that the world's greatest soldier could be as immature and happy-go-lucky as anyone else.

Ayame began to laugh quietly, with her hand over her mouth in Wutai's polite fashion. "General, there's nothing embarrassing about a smile." She walked around to meet his face and he stubbornly turned away again. If he had known that the woman was going to be so quick with the camera, he would have crushed that moment of childlike surprise and wonder. He would have asked for his sword instead. He would not have twirled the goddamn parasol while grinning like a blazing fool.

The woman shook her head at him and walked away to give him his space. She stared up at the ceiling and chose her words carefully. Aggravating the General was tricky business. Going too far was a good way to get intimately acquainted with a blade.

"Why don't you like being happy, General?" A soft wind blew in a few light petals through the open window and sent the loose leaves of paper on the writing desk flying again. Ayame knelt gracefully to pick them up, noting the silence from the man behind her. "Why do you make such an effort to be angry with anything that could brighten your day?" She heard him take a heavy breath.

"Being happy doesn't do anyone any good."

Ayame rose and set a stone paperweight down to keep her pages from flying away again. "How would you know when you never let yourself be happy long enough to find out?"

Sephiroth answered only with a sigh. He wrapped his arms tight around himself. The confusion and uncertainty threatened to close in again and undo all the relaxation the hot shower had afforded him. "What good would it bring me, Ayame?" His voice was soft now and he said her name with something almost like tenderness, as he had been wont to do on some still, summer nights. "The disappointment afterwards is not worth the time spent being a fool."

"That's not always so, General." Ayame stepped closer. She reached out gently and carefully set her hand on his arm. "If you seize it boldly and enjoy it for what it is, joy can see you through any disappointments afterwards. Love can too."

Sephiroth wrenched his arm out from her grasp and glared down at her. "Did your amazing unrequited love see you through anything?"

The woman flinched at his bitter tone. She drew her hand back and pressed it against her waist, where a picture lay hidden. She stared down at the floor for a moment, but then raised fierce eyes to the man she still called her danna. "Yes. Yes, it did." She turned away and stared out the window at something far in the distance. There was a hard edge to her voice. "It kept me alive during the war, in more ways than one. It kept me hoping and trying for something better than the blood and destruction all around me, even when what I wanted was something I could not have." She sighed heavily. This was the one thing she did not care to speak of, not to her General, not to anyone. The first ardent, forbidden desire of the girl she had been was no one's business but her own. It did not really hurt, not anymore, but love could be embarrassing, especially when it involved a grown woman who still held her first blush close to her heart, after all these years.

The swordsman felt a weak urge to make some derisive remark, but it faded quickly. He understood this feeling now, this nervous energy that came with the thing called love. It was confusing and frustrating. It inspired awe and just a little of the unpleasant tingling in his veins and the hollow feeling inside him that he would not call 'fear' just yet. "What did you do?" The woman turned to meet his gaze. Sephiroth swallowed. "When you first realized…" He hesitated, then tried again. "What did you do?"

"I told him, of course." Ayame kept both arms wrapped around her middle. "I was never the most well-behaved maiko."

"How did you do it?" Sephiroth's voice rasped. He needed to know how to do this, if he was going to do it at all.

"I found a way to get him alone for a moment and just blurted it all out. I even offered to give up the geisha life for him, if he would have me," the woman replied in a matter-of-fact way. Sephiroth blanched. Ayame caught the look. "I was young," she offered by way of excuse. "No restraint."

"Do you think I should tell her, then?" Sephiroth clasped his hands behind his back so that the woman would not see his fingers fidgeting.

"I don't recommend suffering in eternal silence, General, and keeping it to yourself when there's very little need to do so is indeed suffering." Ayame tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I suppose you know her well enough to gauge how she will take your words."

The swordsman mulled over the possibilities. He had wanted Aeris to fall into his arms and she had. But somehow, she had also wormed her way into his tiny, hidden, ice-hardened heart. She melted the frost away just by being there. Was it fair to expect her to feel the same way about him when he had only gone into this in the first place for the express purpose of using her? What would she do if he told her the truth of the whole matter? He ran his tongue along the inside of his lip. She might listen attentively till the end, but she could just as likely take another swing at him. He had no idea what to expect. He looked at the geisha for guidance. She had experience with this. "How did yours take it?"

Ayame was silent, considering whether she should say anything or not. The cold, selfish young man the General had been would have thrown her razor-edged emotion in her face if she had ever given him opportunity to seize it, but the man standing before her looked like he might understand. "He let me down gently. He does not love me, but he was still kind."

"What did he say?" Sephiroth was well acquainted with Ayame's reluctance to speak about the matter, but she was finally talking for once and he needed to know. He needed to know as much about this kind of situation as possible before he threw himself into the fray.

"Only that he was not there for me, not like that." Ayame slipped her fan out of her belt and tapped it slowly against her cheek. "It could have been worse. Rejection in love is hardly the worst tragedy out there, even if it seems like it at the time." She touched a spot on her forehead, then let her hand fall quickly as she glanced out the window again. "He remained my friend. I live my life as he taught me," she murmured, "and it's been good."

Sephiroth frowned. "Does not love you, you said? _Does_ not love you?"

Ayame spun around, alarmed. She stared at the general with wide, dark eyes, but soon regained her composure. "Well, General, you've finally picked up a few tricks of my trade."

Sephiroth could not stop the sly beginnings of a grin from crossing his face. He scanned his faded mental lists for all prominent Wutai survivors of the war. "Do I know him?"

The woman almost snickered. "Not likely, and don't waste your time trying to figure it out. I'd bet you're not even thinking in the right direction to come up with the answer. Besides, you have other things to consider."

Sephiroth nodded. She was right. Distracting himself from the problem was not going to make it go away. He had this thing, this crazy _love_ inside him and he needed to share it openly with the one who inspired it before he imploded. Perhaps it had been a good thing he had fallen down the mountain. He had ended up here and Ayame was much more helpful than Mother.

Still, though he now had a vague idea of what he needed to do, he was not too sure how to go about it. Ayame's bold babbling method probably was not the best way to go. And there were his nerves to consider. His fingers did not want to stop twitching and there was a tight knot inside where his heart was just shy of racing. Sephiroth was not pleased with the anxiety, but he was not surprised by it either. He had been bred and raised for soldiering and he simply was not much good at tackling problems that one could not take a sword to. He sighed heavily.

"Something wrong, General?"

Sephiroth gave just the slightest nod of his head. "I don't know… I'm not sure how to…say it."

"Ah, I see," Ayame nodded and carefully filed away her General's nervousness for future reference. "That's a fairly common problem in these cases and I'm afraid there is no one easy solution." Sephiroth's face fell a little. Ayame perked up. "Don't worry, General. There are ways to let your feelings be known without any embarrassing confessions. I would hope you've done a few of them already, given the nature of your relationship."

Sephiroth almost blushed. "What should I do?"

The woman tapped her closed fan in her palm as she considered. "Start with simple things. Flowers, chocolates, the common courting items."

The swordsman looked up. "I gave her flowers." Perhaps there was hope after all.

"Good." Ayame nodded firmly. "Did you take her out to dinner?"

"I burned it."

"You tried to cook? Well, it's a nice gesture at any rate. You could try your hand at a letter. It's still words but if you can't bring yourself to say it in person, an elegantly scripted letter can work wonders." She glanced at her writing desk. "I could help you with that, if you want me to."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I wrote her something once already."

The woman looked a bit impressed. "Kind words and doing what she wants to do?" Sephiroth nodded and almost smiled. He had done it for something other than love, but he had done it all the same.

"Are you pleasing her in bed?"

Sephiroth sputtered. "What are you asking that for, woman?"

"It's a valid question," Ayame insisted. "If you care for her, you should take care _of_ her any way she'll let you. I'd hate to think all that time I spent showing you how to think of something other than your own pleasure was wasted."

Sephiroth did blush faintly then. He turned aside slightly and let his hair fall over his face to hide it. "There haven't been any… complaints."

Ayame smirked. "Any glowing reviews?"

"Well, not really." Sephiroth stared down at his bare feet. "She doesn't have anything to compare it to, I suppose."

"You were her first?" The woman was incredulous. "I hope you made as close to perfect for her as you could. That's a very big moment in a girl's life, even for one who isn't a geisha."

Part of Sephiroth wanted to run through the paper screens and out of the house. Something almost like guilt kept him rooted to the floor. "I waited until things were right enough, I suppose. I'm not too sure what she thought of it though. We haven't really talked about it much."

"You don't seem to do a lot of talking with this one," Ayame said, shaking her head. Sephiroth did not know what to make of it. Mother claimed he talked too much. Ayame claimed he talked too little. Females were strange creatures.

Ayame flicked her fan open and began twirling her wrist about in a simple exercise from a common geisha dance. "Do _you_ think it was special enough?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I suppose so. It was a nice, big room. Very private." The woman nodded in approval.

"Was she willing?"

Sephiroth nodded and wondered why his throat was so dry.

Ayame hid a sly smile behind her fan. "Was there… romantic lighting?"

Sephiroth looked askance as he searched his memory. "Firelight."

"Mmm, nice. Did you strew rose petals on the bed?"

Green eyes opened wide. "No."

Ayame brushed her fan against her cheek. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't have any roses."

Ayame laughed. "Relax, General, I'm only teasing. Those ridiculous romantic touches girls dream of aren't really necessary." She folded up her fan and tucked it away. "So long as you were careful for her sake and treated her well the next morning."

Sephiroth's breath caught and he shuffled backwards. He forced himself to stop before Ayame saw his movement, but it was too late.

"General," she began calmly, "why are you fidgeting?"

Now Sephiroth's heart really did begin to race. "I… I left before she woke up." Before he knew it, the fan was back out and flicking open with a dangerous rush of air. "Ayame, before you do anything, you should know that she already hit me for that! Twice!"

The fan froze and Ayame studied the man. "Did she now?"

Sephiroth nodded rapidly. "Drew blood too."

"Really," Ayame looked impressed. She folded up the fan and stuck it into her sleeve. Her expression grew thoughtful. "She sounds like quite a fiery one. She'd need to be to put up with you." She smiled at the General. "Will you be seeing her again soon?"

"Tonight, I hope." Sephiroth relaxed.

"Good. What are you taking her?"

He was confused again. "Taking her?"

Ayame got that strange expression common to females who were exasperated with their menfolk. "Yes, Sephiroth. You don't stop the courting gestures just because you've gotten her to take you in. Not if you want her to keep you around."

Sephiroth sniffed. "Well, that's shallow, if women are expecting compensation." He drew himself up and declared with mock arrogance, "I believe the pleasure of my company should be enough!"

Ayame laughed. "Honestly, General, you should take her a gift now and then. Not as a bribe or payment. Nothing as crass as that. It's just that some women appreciate little gestures that show you are thinking of them when they are not near. You do think of her when she's not around, don't you?"

"All the time." Sephiroth sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I can't think of anything else."

The geisha's smile for him was gentle this time. "I understand."

* * *

**AN**: Thanks for all the huggles and cookies! I had fun writing this, even if it was a headache trying to make Sephiroth believably confuffled in love, avoid OC pitfalls, work subplots in and handle all kinds of hard labor and deadlines in real life. I've got a masochistic touch, I guess. I like that kind of pain. ;P Much thanks to beta, Noacat, for valuable feedback. If you have any beef with this chapter, please let me know.


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**Disclaimer: **Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix. No profit is made from this work. All original characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty Four**

"Ornaments and jewelry are common courting gifts on the Continents, aren't they?" Ayame pulled firmly on a drawer and took a look inside. "You can have any of these," she said to the man behind her. "Since I am no longer actively in the flower life, I have very little use for them. At any rate these would suit a younger woman better."

Sephiroth hunched forward and studied the neat array of hair ornaments. Skillfully crafted silk flowers piled up so thick he could hardly see the pins and combs they were attached to. Long strands of silken buds flowed around the drawer. Some ornaments even had little chimes that would make music in the breeze. Sephiroth swallowed. He could not understand women's hair ornaments for the life of him. Wash and brush, that was all anyone needed as far as he could see.

Ayame pulled one broad comb out and brushed the white silk petals lightly with one hand. "They're all quite clean. Don't worry about that. This one would look good with a longer hairstyle." She turned around and reached up to set it in Sephiroth's hair. The General jumped back. Nobody was putting that frippery on him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he barked. Ayame barely even flinched, which annoyed him no end.

"I just want to make sure it would look good in your lady's hair."

Sephiroth scowled and edged away a little bit more. "I never said she had long hair."

The woman raised her eyebrows ever so slightly at him. "Is it short?"

The swordsman turned his face away, almost burying his mouth in his shoulder. "No."

Ayame nodded to herself and turned back to the hair ornaments. She set the comb back down and studied the others. "That one suits you. The leaves go well with your eyes but I doubt your lady has your particular coloring."

"She has green eyes," Sephiroth protested.

"Really." Ayame looked vaguely intrigued. "You two must make a well-matched pair."

The swordsmen growled quietly. "Does matching really matter?"

"Of course it matters," Ayame waved him off. "You can't give the girl something that doesn't look good on her."

Sephiroth exhaled and hunched down just a little bit further. He really did not understand women's hair ornaments. Ayame completely ignored his discomfort.

"What color hair does she have?"

"Brown," Sephiroth mumbled.

"Brown," Ayame repeated for confirmation and opened another drawer to look for something more suitable.

"Brown," Sephiroth murmured again. "Not too dark. Not too light either. A medium kind of brown, with a touch of honey. The fine strands look almost golden sometimes. In the right light they glow like a halo around her."

Ayame glanced up for a moment. "Oh, Kami-sama," she whispered lowly. She had heard a great deal of poetry in her life, some of it fine, some of it passable and much of it just plain awful. She knew lovesick tripe when she heard it. One thing was becoming very clear: the General had it bad.

She quickly pushed the thought from her mind and resumed her search for something that would make a decent token of affection. "How about these?" She turned around and proffered a pair of hair pins with light yellow blossoms and even a silk butterfly among the buds.

Sephiroth stared at the things. He supposed they were nice enough. He frowned a little, uncertain. "I'm not sure how she feels about wearing yellow."

Ayame sighed. She had no idea how the man could be so smitten and yet so ignorant about the very one he was supposed to love. It crossed her mind that something was not quite right here, but if it made her sour young General happy, she would do her best to smooth things along. "What color does she like?"

The man appeared to think for a moment. "Pink."

The geisha stared. "General," she began, "you loathe pink."

Sephiroth shrugged a little and looked away almost shyly. "I like it on her."

Ayame kept staring. "General," she said slowly, "I don't know where you've been or what you've been doing these past five years, but it's obvious that at some point you must have taken a very hard blow to the head."

Sephiroth nodded. "It's possible," he admitted. "I don't remember much." He had been wondering why his head was such a mess lately.

The woman turned back to the drawers of ornaments. "So, pink, then?" She offered up a comb with a spray of silk chrysanthemums in the perfect shade of pink. Sephiroth leaned in to study it carefully. It was pretty, he supposed, but the petals were too stiff and unyielding. There was no hint of scent and the texture would be all wrong. Aeris liked real flowers. That was no guarantee that she would like silk ones. Sephiroth felt his heart thud. What if she loved real flowers so much that she absolutely hated fake ones? She might stab him with the fancy hair pins for being so stupid. He almost twitched. Why hadn't he thought to find these things out?

"I… I'm not sure." He shook his head and straightened up. "She likes real flowers. I don't know how she feels about the artificial kind. I don't know if she really cares for elaborate hair ornaments either."

Ayame sighed again. The man was drawing on her very last reserves of patience. "First you don't see why you should give her a little gift at all and now you can't find anything good enough." She shut the drawer and looked out the window. "I don't have anything in the way of real flowers." Most of the plants in her carefully tended garden were not known for blossoms. They served Ayame's purposes well enough though, with the right drying and grinding methods. Sephiroth was careful never to touch a one of the little shrubs if he could help it, just in case.

The woman turned sharply away from her dark garden. "How about a nice hair ribbon? I have some lovely woven silks, if you're interested."

Sephiroth nodded and followed Ayame to a smaller chest of drawers in the corner of her dressing room. He knelt beside her and inspected everything he was shown with a critical eye. The first was too dark, the second too heavily embroidered. The third was too pink and the fourth not pink enough. One was too yellow and another was too green. Short lengths of cloth wrapped in paper for protection piled up all around them. Ayame was on the verge of giving up. She had never seen the General, or any man for that matter, being so fussy.

"What more could you possibly want?" she asked, holding up a concoction in pale pink and green. "Does your lady really have such particular taste?" She could have slapped herself. She knew the answer before she finished asking the question.

"I don't know." Sephiroth leaned back on his heels and rubbed the back of his hand. "She's not really so picky, I suppose."

Ayame folded the material and set it aside wearily. "Then why, in Leviathan's name, are you being so choosy on her behalf?"

The man sighed. "I don't know." Ayame considered strangling him with a ribbon but decided that it would take far too much effort. Sephiroth looked up and caught her eye. "I just want her to like it. Really, really like it." His eyes drifted away in the direction of the gardens. "I want to see her smile. There's a way her entire face just lights up when she's happy. I want that for her."

Ayame hid a satisfied smile of her own. This was what she had wanted to see. Flowers and notes and even skillful lovemaking were only the bare trappings of a relationship, no true indicator of a depth of feeling. That the General thought first of the girl's happiness, despite his bumbling ignorance, was a good sign.

Sephiroth let out a deep breath. "I'm really far gone, aren't I?"

Ayame tried hard not to smirk at him. "Have you let her weave daisy chains into your hair yet?"

"No."

"Then it's not so bad."

Sephiroth looked relieved. He was quiet as he helped Ayame pack the ribbons and sashes away. There seemed to be a trick to folding them exactly the way she liked because she inspected each one he handed her and made minor adjustments to it. He felt almost like a raw cadet again and had to comfort himself with the thought that even if he could not fold silk, he could still make a bed with sheets so tight a two-gil coin would bounce to the ceiling.

They had almost finished when a light chiming sound rang through the house. Ayame rose quickly. "Stay in here, General. There's someone at the door." She smoothed her kimono and patted down her hair. Appearances mattered for one such as her.

"You have a doorbell?" Sephiroth asked.

"Hush," Ayame warned. Then she headed past the sliding screen with an air of perfect calm.

Sephiroth placed the final silk sash back into the chest and smoothed the protective paper wrapping over it. Ayame's voice came through the thin walls, faint and delicate as a geisha's should be. Sephiroth glanced around. Ayame had told him to stay in the room and be quiet. She never said not to listen. He edged his way over to the wall and leaned in closer.

"The Lord thanks you for your company," a strange voice said in the Wutai tongue. "He asks your pardon that all he offers is this unworthy token."

"A brief ray brightens the fading iris in the shadowed glade. The sun knows not the extent of its own warmth." Ayame replied with all the grace and formality of a refined lady. "Our Lord Godo's favor is never unworthy."

Sephiroth twitched so hard he nearly broke through the screen.

When Ayame returned bearing a small, cloth-bound package, she found him slack-jawed and wide-eyed in the corner and knew instantly that he had been eavesdropping. She set the box down and scowled at him. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You're sleeping with _Godo_?" Sephiroth choked out.

"Of course not, General. Don't be ridiculous." Ayame drew her fan out and flicked it sharply open. "I'm still making him work for it."

Sephiroth sat up and tried to compose himself. It had been a rough morning, but still, the way he was letting things get ahead of him was well past embarrassing. "Why him, though?"

The woman barely looked up from behind the fan. "Does my officially deceased danna wish me to stop entertaining him?" She lifted her eyes above the edge of the fan and met her General's flustered gaze with an open, unchallenging inquiry. There was no confrontation here, only fact. Her General was, to most people, dead, and though she kept up the charade for his sake she was an independent woman now. There was nothing but their old familiarity to bind them and he had no right to make demands of her time.

The realization was a little embarrassing, but Sephiroth was relieved as well. He had no wish to take on the responsibility of a danna again. It was good this way. Ayame was content and more than capable of handling herself. He was free from any personal sense of obligation towards her, free to pursue… other interests. They had both moved on.

He shook his head slightly in answer to Ayame's question, even though she had already guessed his answer. He straightened himself up and corrected his posture while the woman picked at the knot of her package. "I still don't understand, though. Why him, of all people?"

"Don't tell me you're still holding some old war grudge, General," Ayame said, holding back laughter. "What's wrong with Lord Godo?"

Sephiroth frowned. "He's so… old."

Ayame did laugh then. "Honestly, General, he's not that old. He's aged quite well, in men's years. Besides, I'm no budding blossom myself."

Sephiroth shook his head. "But you're not that much older than I am, Ayame."

The geisha smiled wryly. "It's different for women, General, especially those who make their living off their charms."

The swordsman considered that for a moment. "You don't look old, Ayame."

The smile she gave him for that was small, but bright. "Thank you, General. That is kind of you." Beneath his bad temper and heartbreaking good looks, her General could almost be a sweet young man. Not that she would ever tell him that. She glanced down at the box she had unwrapped. "Not again," she groaned.

"What?" Sephiroth's head snapped up.

Ayame picked up the box. "Godo sent me wagashi." Sephiroth stared blankly. "From the shop next to the apothecary." She opened the box and checked inside the lid. There was a sheet of paper in there with some very condensed writing. The woman pulled the note out and shut the box. "Good for something, at least," she murmured. Sephiroth had to wonder at the way her eyes lit up when she said it.

Sephiroth tilted his head and studied the box. He remembered the store in question. It was famous for its traditional sweets, made from ancient, secret recipes and artfully fashioned by hand into the shapes of flowers to suit the season. "That place is still open?"

"It's been open for centuries, General," Ayame murmured, deeply into reading the note with one hand on her heart.

"I thought you liked those sweets."

"I do." The woman tucked the note away in her obi. "I can't keep eating them at the rate Godo sends them though. Not if I want to keep my figure." She looked speculatively from the box to the seated soldier and graced him with a sugary smile. "Why don't you take these for your lady?" she suggested sweetly.

Sephiroth frowned. "I can't take something that Godo sent for you."

"Of course you can, General. It would make up for that dinner you burned." Ayame began wrapping the box back up.

The swordsman eyed the thing warily. "It doesn't seem right. Godo had that sent for you. I can't just pick it up and give to someone else."

"Yes, you can." Ayame held the package out. "It's mine to do with as I please and I choose to give it to you to share with your young love." Sephiroth made no move to take the thing. "Please, General, for Heaven's sake, take it. Godo has a new box sent to me every day and I can't get rid of them fast enough."

Sephiroth took the box hesitantly. "You really are making him work for it, aren't you?"

"He tries hard." Ayame slumped down and picked up her fan again. "Truthfully, I would appreciate a little more originality in his approach." She fluttered the fan quickly and for an instant, Sephiroth saw a faint trace of her age, a slight weariness with what the world offered. He had to wonder what exactly was driving her to keep on her path. He sighed. Whatever Ayame's motivation, it could hardly be some late-coming urge to poison the Kisaragi brat. It was such a shame.

Sephiroth picked half-heartedly at the knot on the package as he considered the possibilities. He did not like the picture that was forming here. Ayame was no longer actively entertaining as a geisha. She was an independent woman living alone, as far as he could tell. She was not getting any younger, as she had pointed out, and she was receiving the attentions of a fairly powerful man. A fairly powerful widowed man. Sephiroth had a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Ayame," he asked faintly, "you're not trying to… to get married, are you?"

The woman arched her eyebrows above the fan. "General, you know I'm not the marrying kind."

Sephiroth felt the easing of the slight touch of what was almost like jealousy, but still his mouth went just a little dry. He had to remind himself that he was no longer a leader of armies, no longer at war. "That wouldn't stop you if what you were after was worth the cost, would it?"

Ayame lowered the fan to show him the perfectly schooled polite smile behind it. "It might not, but if I really wanted to be the power behind the throne at this late stage of the game, I would not need a marriage to do it."

Sephiroth saw the unfortunate truth of it. From the looks of things, Godo was besotted enough as it was. Having a mind like Ayame's so close to the seat of power was either a blessing or a curse. The woman had always had her own quiet agenda.

A loud gong sounded in the distance. The soldier and the geisha looked outside. "Hmm, something is actually happening at the Pagoda of the Five Gods," Ayame said. "About time, too. It's been so long since there were any challengers."

Sephiroth rose. The Pagoda was too close to Ayame's house for his comfort. "I should go," he said. "A crowd might gather." The woman nodded. Sephiroth paused. "Will you be all right?"

Ayame nodded. "I will be perfectly fine, General." Sephiroth gave her a curt bow and marched towards the main door, intent on getting away as quickly and quietly as possible. The woman caught up with him while he was strapping on a boot.

"General!"

Sephiroth looked up sharply. He did not take well to distractions while he was in a mission frame of mind. Ayame held the cloth package out to him.

"You forgot the sweets."

"Oh." Sephiroth's booted foot thumped down on the wooden floor a bit louder than he liked. He took the package from Ayame with another small bow, secured the Masamune and turned to leave. A slight papery rustle at his fingertip made him examine the wrapped box more carefully.

Tucked into the knot of the cloth was a thin, square packet. He unconsciously began reading the label out loud. "Leviathan brand Ultra-ribbed for Her Plea-." He froze and looked back wildly.

Ayame was trying to hide a wicked little smile behind her fan and doing a very poor job of it. "I didn't want you to run out."

"Oh, not likely," Sephiroth said offhandedly. "We haven't been bothering with it before." Ayame's eyes turned to flint and the soldier realized his mistake too late. The geisha had very particular ideas about some things and this was one of them. Sephiroth clutched the box in front of him like a shield and carefully stepped backward, keeping one eye on the woman's fan.

Ayame closed the fan and held it tight in her fist. "Get out, General, before I throw you out on your reckless behind." Sephiroth nodded even though the woman could not possibly physically carry out her threat. He hoped she was not too mad with him. She called out to him one more time as he reached the edge of the garden. "Follow the line of cedar trees. It will lead you past the edge of town."

Sephiroth allowed himself a small breath of relief as he turned to thank her, but she was already gone.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Tifa craned her neck to see the top of Wutai's great Pagoda. "I hope Yuffie's doing okay in there."

"What you worrying 'bout, Tifa?" Barret growled. "We got our materia back and that's good enough for me. If that fool girl wants to pick fights with her daddy, it's her business."

Tifa sighed. "I guess she had her reasons." Yuffie's obvious love for Wutai had gone a long way in reducing any anger Tifa felt over the young ninja's actions. "I just wish she'd rested a while before entering the Pagoda. She just got pulled down from the cliffside."

Cloud edged away from the encroaching sunlight. "If she wants to take up a challenge so soon after hanging off a mountain, it's her business."

Cid snorted. "Yeah, it's not our damn fault if her daddy whoops her ass. If you ask me, it's long overdue." He stomped out one cigarette and reached up to his goggles to get another. Aeris decided she had had enough of his smoke and wandered out of the shade.

"Aeris," Tifa called after her. "Where are you going?"

"Just stretching my legs. I won't go far."

Tifa ran after her. "Let me come with you. Just standing around waiting is getting to me." She caught up easily and both women wandered away from the cobbled courtyard into the fringe of forest.

Barret watched them go. "Well, Wutai don't let foreigners into the Pagoda, it's hot as hell out here and now the women's gone. What do we do?"

Cid grinned. "Strip down and cool off?"

Barret grinned back. "My thinking exactly."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris and Tifa stayed close to the edge of the forest, never straying out of sight of the city. The shrubbery was not thick and the terrain was not especially challenging. Tifa was content to follow her friend's lead.

"Got any destination in mind?"

"No." Aeris smiled as she skirted a boulder. "It just seemed like a good time to get a look at the local greenery."

Tifa grinned and skipped ahead a bit. "Well, if you'll look over to your right, you'll see trees and to the left, we have rocks, shrubbery and even more trees." She walked backwards and gestured widely with both arms, tour-guide style. "Stick with me, folks. We've only got a few more stops on our Wutai Greenery tour and trust me, you don't want to miss a thing."

Aeris snickered. "Mind that shrub. It's poisonous."

Tifa squealed and spun around just in time to avoid stumbling into the plant in question. "Whew, that was close! It's not deadly, is it?"

The flower girl bent down to take a closer look. As far as her friend knew, she was observing the leaves and berries, but Aeris was actually examining the pattern of lifestream flow within the plant. She soon straightened up and gave the plant a wide berth. "Touching it won't kill you, but it'll give you a nasty rash."

"Hm, how nasty?" Tifa wondered.

Aeris spared the bush one backwards glance. "Oh, it's about 'scratch off all your skin' bad."

Tifa made a face. "Okay, ladybugs and gentlegerms, kindly keep your hands inside the tour bus." Aeris joined her giggling and it took a while for both of them to sober up.

Tifa slowed down as their path took them near a bright clearing. "There sure are a lot of those little shrubs around."

Aeris moved into the light to get a better look. There were small plants all around, with dark leaves or bright berries, thick spines or feathery branches, all bearing the glowing imprint of barbed and spiked lifestream flow. Not all were deadly, though all held danger. Some would require the work of a dedicated and devious hand to produce anything more than a slight irritation. With extremely careful manipulation, a few could even serve as potent medicine. The Planet often put the cure near the cause, but Aeris began to suspect that something else was at work here.

The bushes were spaced rather evenly and a few that were growing well out in the open were even trimmed into neat, rounded shapes. Aeris tilted her head in confusion. It seemed to her that only a very dedicated potential lunatic would actually take up pruning plants like that. She almost ran into Tifa while she was thinking about the possibilities.

"Why'd you – Oh!" Aeris sought a spot behind Tifa's shoulder when she saw the reason for stopping. The clearing was actually someone's garden and that someone was staring at them from the verandah. Accidental trespassing would not have been enough to truly make her quail, but there was something intent about the woman's gaze. Add to that the strangeness of the intricacies of Wutai's etiquette and Aeris definitely found the situation uncomfortable. She hoped she had not offended.

She was surprised when Tifa bowed, leaving her without cover for a few seconds. Aeris followed suit hastily and felt like a clumsy fool. She was just sure she was mucking up whatever was the appropriate behavior in Wutai for this situation. Something told her that sauntering up and saying, "I was just admiring your garden and wondering how you manage to grow choke vine without killing yourself," was not the way to go.

Tifa surprised her again by beginning to say something that sounded very pretty, even if Aeris did not understand it. She had not known that Tifa could speak Wutanese. Aeris could feel the blue-robed woman's eyes on her despite the fact that Tifa was the one actually doing the talking. The flower girl tried to shrink further behind her friend's shoulder to hide her surprise.

Under the eaves of the house, Ayame stood and observed carefully. It was turning out to be quite a day. She had just barely come in from seeing the General out on one side of the house when two more unexpected visitors came wandering in on the other. The woman's eyes were drawn immediately to the girl dressed all in pink.

There was no mistaking it. Long honey brown hair swung about the girl's hips in a twisted braid. The eyes were green, not a match for the General's unique shade, but lovely enough in their own right. The girl was pretty, in a delicate way. Ayame watched how the girl shrunk behind her bolder partner, almost shying away from the line of sight. She seemed terribly young. Ayame narrowed her eyes. "That cradle-robbing bastard," she muttered.

She just barely managed to register the end of the other girl's simple speech. There had been an explanation in there and a rather formal, rote-learned apology, but it had been enough to gather that the girls meant no harm. Ayame turned her attention away from her General's skittish lover.

"You have a good accent," she complimented in the continental speech. "Might I ask where you learned the language?"

Both girls visibly relaxed at hearing their own tongue spoken so fluently. The one in the short skirt had done well but her Wutanese was clearly out of practice. She stepped forward, smiling. "My martial arts instructor taught me what he could. I know my vocabulary is not the best, but he specialized in the more colorful terms."

Ayame laughed. Some of the first continental words to enter her vocabulary had been four-lettered. She stepped closer to the light. "My name is Ayame. I'm sure you must have walked quite a distance. If you have the time, you are welcome inside for tea. I'm sure you've got a good idea of exactly what is going on outside Wutai and I would love to hear it."

The girls consulted silently with one another and the dark-eyed one won. She made her way cheerfully towards the house, making introductions. Ayame noted that the General's little lover, Aeris, shook off most of her nervousness at the reassurance that she could keep her boots on if she was more comfortable that way, never mind custom and tatami-matted floors. She took them off anyway, following Tifa's lead. Ayame nodded in satisfaction. Wutai's formality could be daunting to the uninitiated and the geisha's scandalously long involvement with gaijin had taught her when to steer clear of it.

"I hope we didn't interrupt anything," Aeris said with her eyes on the used teacups in the center of the room. Ayame cursed her own oversight.

"You didn't. An old friend came to visit a short while ago." Ayame would say no more than absolutely necessary. She cleared up the used tray and turned to get clean crockery. "Make yourselves comfortable." She kept her attention on the girls. Tifa kneeled easily on the tatami floor. Aeris had to see how it was done but she mimicked the pose easily enough. Close up and less nervous, she did not look as young as she had outside. She did not fidget overmuch, but her eyes kept straying to the garden now and then.

Ayame knelt gracefully and began setting out clean cups and a tray of the sweets that were haunting her days and her hips. "Have you come a long way?"

"We've been traveling for weeks," Tifa said. "We started in Midgar and just kept going."

"Midgar," Ayame smiled politely as the tea steeped. Out of consideration for her foreign guests she was careful not to make it too strong. "Are things settling down now after the change of power?"

"I don't think so." Tifa shook her head. "I've got a feeling the situation is only just heating up."

"Is that so?" Ayame questioned gently, letting the conversation turn where it would. She learned that the young women had come with a sizeable group and that the new Shinra president was seeking new mako and ways to consolidate his power. From the sound of things, the young man was turning out to be far more ruthless than his father, but less astute about actually running his company. Ayame carefully tucked that information away for the appropriate time. Godo had to shore up what was left of the country's defenses. Wutai had to be ready for changes. Ayame had to call her stock broker.

She expressed surprise to learn that the challenger at the Pagoda was in fact the young princess Yuffie, but she had long expected the girl to try something along those lines. Godo had raised Yuffie alone, mostly, and in some people's estimation he had let her run wild. He and his former comrades-in-arms had trained her the only way they knew how but now seemed oddly surprised and even horrified that the young princess completely lacked proper feminine refinement. Yuffie was determined to disabuse her father of his notions about what was proper for high-born ladies. Ayame glanced out at the Pagoda and secretly cheered the young Kisaragi on.

Tifa and Aeris were interesting enough in their own right. Tifa was easily the more open of the two, on the surface. Ayame credited that to her familiarity with Wutai and the alert confidence of a well-trained fighter. She was self-assured and an easy conversationalist. Aeris was more intent on taking it all in. Something about the garden kept drawing her attention. There was something particularly striking about her when she had that thoughtful expression on her face. Ayame had to hand it to her young General. He knew a pretty girl when he saw one.

Ayame worried a bit though. A girl that gentle and passive would be completely overrun by the General's presence. The geisha sincerely hoped that Aeris had not been coerced into going along with the soldier's intentions. She lifted the tray of sweets. "Would you like to try one of these, Aeris?"

The girl drew herself out of her reverie and looked at the tray. "Thank you." She was the picture of politeness as she selected cherry blossom-shaped bean paste sweet. She held it and stared at it for a while.

Tifa grinned and nudged her friend. "It's okay to eat it, you know."

Aeris smiled back a little and looked back down at the flower shape. "It's so pretty. It would be a shame to put a bite in it." Ayame noticed the way the green eyes flitted to the garden before settling on the sweet. Now the geisha understood.

"Don't worry about it," Ayame reassured. "The shop it came from makes more every day."

"It's really good, Aeris," Tifa hinted. She had chosen an intricately made square that looked like a slice of clear riverbed, complete with goldfish. Only half was left on her plate.

"Oh, Tifa," Aeris looked over and grinned. "Did you have to eat his head first?"

"He didn't suffer," Tifa intoned then burst out laughing. Aeris laughed too and took a tentative bite of her flower. She chewed slowly, either to get used to the taste or wait for any ill effects.

"Do you like flowers?" Ayame asked in a light tone. She knew the answer, but it was always good to get information direct from the source.

Aeris gave her a brief searching look. "I sell them. I have a garden at home and I keep it full of flowers."

"Ah, that's lovely," Ayame smiled back. "I'm afraid my plants aren't particularly known for flowers."

"I noticed," Aeris said quietly.

The girl was sharp, Ayame realized, and definitely had more than a passing knowledge of plants. No wonder the garden made her nervous. "I do make some herbal remedies from a few of the plants in my garden." Ayame mentioned. "Do you ever grow healing herbs among your flowers?"

Aeris nodded. "Sometimes." She took another bite of the sweet. It was really quite good.

"Aeris has a really good healing touch," Tifa put in.

"Is that so?" Ayame studied the little flower girl. "I only dabble with medicine-making myself. Most of the plants aren't really suitable."

"Why do you keep them around then?" Tifa was innocently blunt.

"They keep pests away," Ayame said, struggling to keep the wicked pleasure out of her eyes.

"Do you get many?" Aeris wondered. She looked a little pale.

"Not these days. More tea?" Ayame reached for the tea pot. The girl was wary, and showing a shrewd restraint that the geisha had not expected. That was good, but handling the General required a certain strength and firmness. She was not sure that Aeris had it. "There were quite a few in the geisha district where I used to live though."

"You were a geisha?" Tifa grew wide-eyed.

"Yes, my dear." Ayame refilled the cups and wondered exactly what the young martial artist had heard about the flower life.

"Why did you stop?" Tifa sounded a little sad. The poor thing must have gotten the impression that geisha life was glamorous.

Ayame sipped her tea and graced the pair with a careful smile. "Business in the district never did recover from the war." She set the cup down more noisily than usual and carefully schooled her eyes away from Aeris. "My… chief patron passed on several years ago and left me well-provided for. I had the means and the time was right, so I moved on. I devote my time to my music now, for the most part." She stared out at the garden.

"Do you ever miss being a geisha?" Tifa wanted to know.

"Miss having my hair pulled up with wax all the time? Never!" Ayame smiled a bit more than was proper.

Tifa was shocked. "That's how it's done? Wax?"

"Oh, yes, it's a laborious process and the maintenance is a chore. It thins the hair terribly over the years." Ayame smoothed her hair back, subconsciously checking to be sure it was still there.

"Couldn't they just use some really strong hairspray?" Aeris had dropped all guards now. Her own braid was wound around her wrist and she clutched the end to herself protectively.

"I wish they could. Even if there's a spray up to the job, it's unlikely that the traditional hairstylists would change. Purity of the art, you see." Ayame took a delicate sip.

Tifa shook her head. "I had no idea. It always looked so beautiful. It's a lot of hard work to look that pretty, I guess."

"Definitely." Ayame swirled her tea around in a most unladylike manner. "After the hair, there's the makeup and the clothes. Getting a kimono on properly can take quite a while."

"It can?" The martial artist sounded a bit disappointed. "You don't just put it on and tie it?"

"Hardly." Ayame stopped, poised to launch into a full explanation about the nature of obi. "How much time do you have?"

"We're not sure," Aeris explained. "We didn't really plan to be away from the group longer than Yuffie took to climb the Pagoda, but I don't know how that's going."

Ayame looked out of door and up at the building in question. "There's been nothing further than the first gong of challenge. I'd say she's doing fairly well."

"But it's been so long," Aeris said.

"Exactly." Ayame nodded. "Most challengers don't last ten minutes on the first floor."

Tifa deflated. "The guys might start missing us if we don't get back."

Ayame sat back on her heels and resisted the urge to hide a smile behind her fan. "It's okay to let the menfolk miss you now and then. Otherwise they start taking you for granted. Now why don't you come with me." She gestured with a tilt of her head.

She led them to her dressing room where her kimono were stored. Several of her summer kimono were out hanging on racks all around. She restrained her smile as she heard the twin gasps behind her. It was an impressive sight, she had to admit. "Care to borrow one?"

Tifa blinked. "Really?"

"Will they fit?" Aeris wondered.

"One size fits all," Ayame said. "I have the ones for younger women put away over here." She went over to the far wall where the chests and wardrobes were neatly lined up. "Hmm, what colors?" She turned back and looked the girls up and down. The season called for bright, warm shades, perfect for young women. Ayame took in their particular coloring and nodded decisively. "I know just the thing. You can get behind the screen over there to change out of your clothes. I'll get the kimono out in a minute."

The house quickly filled with a flurry of flying silk and wild giggles. It had been a long time since Ayame had felt so girlish, whirling out the long-sleeved kimono she had not worn for years. She went quite overboard, almost like a child with two new dolls to dress up and play with. Tifa and Aeris had grown so accustomed to the hard life of travelers that they had not relaxed and truly enjoyed gentler things for such a long time. Now, they did not have to worry about rations, making a camp or defending it from predators. They slipped easily into a realm of colored silk and laughter.

"The collar hangs away from the neck, dear, and we adjust the length like this."

"Oh, that's how you do it?"

"We have to tie it here. No, no, don't drop your arms yet. Let me get this."

"That looks okay."

"And another tie here. Let me smooth it out. No wrinkles allowed. There, that's good."

"Tuck here, fold there. This is a lot of work."

"It is, I suppose. Hmm… Tifa, please don't fault me for saying this but we'll need to pad your waist."

"Pad it? How come?"

"To get the correct lines. Your figure… does not lend itself readily to a proper drape."

"Oh."

"Darn boobies."

"Stop laughing!"

When the first round was over, Tifa stood resplendent in a sprout green furisode with an intricate pattern of irises, chrysanthemums and bamboo shoots reaching up from the hem. A wide, orange-red, thickly embroidered obi belt completed the picture. With her long dark hair down, Tifa looked like a spirit who had stepped down a mountain in full bloom and found herself lost in civilization.

"Well?" She asked shyly, "How do I look?"

"You're beautiful, Tifa." Aeris was breathless.

"It suits you," Ayame said.

"How does it feel?" Aeris wanted to know.

Tifa puzzled it over. "Stiff." She took a step forward and almost tripped. "I can't walk in it," she said, laughing giddily.

"It takes some practice," the geisha explained. "All right, Aeris, your turn."

The silk whirlwind descended again. Ayame had chosen a furisode she had treasured herself as a maiko for the General's young love. The plum-pink shades at the shoulders of the kimono blended smoothly into a deeper scarlet at the hem. Delicate cherry blossom embroidery floated over the cloth. In the back, soaring up from the hemline in shimmering gold, was a glorious firebird. Ayame gave the phoenix a fond gaze as she tied the gold-stitched obi into a butterfly bow.

"Done."

Aeris turned around and right then, Ayame saw the smile that had melted the General's heart. There was a childlike wonder in those green eyes and a joy that radiated through the girl's entire form.

"Wow, Aeris, you look amazing!" Tifa clapped her hands. Aeris turned and tiptoed over, grinning. Ayame watched both friends practically squealing in girlish delight.

"Oh, to be that young again," she murmured and slipped out unnoticed. She returned only a few moments later and caught both girls whirling around carefully, making their long sleeves flutter behind them.

A flash went off and both stopped, startled. Ayame winked at them and waved her small camera. "Cheese!" After the initial surprise, they both happily posed for pictures. Ayame promised them prints of the photographs if they should ever pass through Wutai again.

It seemed too soon when the gongs of the Pagoda of the Five Gods began to sound again. The low ringing resonated through the foothills and continued until it seemed the sound would shake Mt. DaChao. The three women gathered near the window.

"What's happening?" Aeris asked.

Ayame could hardly believe it. "Young Kisaragi has defeated the Fifth God. Godo is defeated."

"Seriously?" Tifa turned to stare out the window again. "What does this mean? Does she take over or something?"

The geisha shook her head. "Wutai has a new champion. Anything else would be for the girl and her father to work out."

Aeris sighed. "I guess this means we should probably be getting back."

"Yeah," Tifa said sadly. "I really had fun here."

"So did I." Ayame turned her camera off. "You are both welcome back anytime you are in the area."

"Are you going to be all alone here now?" Aeris asked sadly.

"Hardly," Ayame replied, pressing a hand against the note tucked away in her obi. "A friend of mine is coming later this afternoon." She smiled gently at the two young women and the silence grew heavy.

Tifa decided first. "I guess we better get these off then."

Taking the kimono off was nowhere near as much fun as putting them on, but easier to manage. Ayame slipped away again to put her camera away while Aeris helped Tifa unwrap. She had just reached the shelf in her study where she kept it when a slight rustle alerted her to Aeris' presence in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Ayame. I think we tangled the obi together. We can't manage to fold them back the way you had them," Aeris said, taking a few steps forward. She spotted something over the other woman's shoulder and froze.

The geisha registered the change in the girl's demeanor and slowly turned to seek out the cause. "Oh," was all she could say when she saw it.

The picture of General Sephiroth, clad in the dark dragon kimono, hung on the wall behind her. Ayame turned back towards Aeris to find the girl still staring silently. All Ayame could do was watch.

Aeris shuffled forward slowly, not believing her eyes. She got close enough for there to be no mistaking it. Silver hair like that, green eyes that glowed, the angled features she knew so well were all captured there, most likely by Ayame's own hand. The woman looked particularly red-handed standing before the framed picture holding a camera. Aeris felt her heart fall like a stone.

Sephiroth had spent a long time in Wutai. He had practically come into manhood there. Aeris had known that there must have been others before her, but she had not asked. She had assumed they were long behind him and that they did not matter. Aeris kept the older woman in her view though she could not yet bear to look right at the geisha now. She remembered used teacups and fought to breathe in the confining garment she wore.

Ayame took in the utter shock on the girl's face. Aeris was so quiet that the geisha began to fear it was too much for her. "It's an unusual picture, isn't it?" she said, attempting to smooth the situation, make it sound like the prank it had been so long ago. "I took it years ago, after a decent amount of planning. The right mood, the right light… hiding his clothes so he would have no choice but to wear what was available."

Aeris pictured Ayame dressing Sephiroth with her own two hands. The flowergirl's fists tightened at her side. Ayame's open, easy manner about that thing on the wall did not comfort her. The blithe humor seemed like a challenge. Something dark and ugly rose inside Aeris. She turned the full strength of her gaze on the woman. Whatever Ayame might have had with Sephiroth, it was past now and it would remain so. Aeris would let the woman know in no uncertain terms.

The geisha was still talking about the picture. "I chose black for him. He would hardly wear anything else. Not that it mattered, of course. He was the kind of man who would look good in everything." She paused as she saw the changed expression on Aeris' face.

The flowergirl met the geisha's stare and spoke with deliberate slowness. "He looks good out of everything too."

Ayame forgot to breathe. She did not have to worry about Aeris being overpowered in her relationship. The General's flower had thorns and knew how to use them. A brilliant smile crossed Ayame's face and she stepped forward, near tears with happiness. "I'm glad you know it."

"You are?" The sudden change was another surprise for Aeris. Ayame nodded.

"You've made someone I care about happy in a way I thought he never would be," the geisha whispered. "I can only hope he does the same for you." Aeris blushed and the tension eased considerably. "Why don't you go finish helping Tifa undress? Don't worry about the folding. I'll put everything away later."

Aeris nodded, smiling a little and turned to go. Just as she neared the door, Ayame called out to her. "Aeris?"

"What?" The girl looked back over her shoulder and was greeted by another flash of the camera. She blinked away the remaining flare. "Was that it?"

Ayame set the camera down on the shelf. "Take care of him, little sister. He's quite hopeless sometimes."

Aeris smiled. "I'm beginning to see."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The sun was going down, the lights were coming out and Reno was enjoying what was left of his vacation. He rapped his knuckles to get the barkeeper's attention. "Another Wutai's Revenge!"

"And keep 'em coming, right?" The barkeeper grinned.

"You know it!" Reno hollered, waving dramatically. It was a good life. The Turks had an odd relationship with the Turtle's Paradise bar. As Shinra employees, they were officially reviled, as were most foreigners in any corner of Wutai, but in the bar they were tolerated, even acidly liked, because they were damned good customers and not too bad once their particular dark sorrows were drowned.

The barkeeper set a glass down in front of Reno and poured liquid gold out of a shaker. "Drink up, you thieving drunk!"

"I will, you motherless louse!" Reno threw his head back and tossed half the drink down his throat. The burn was furious. Wutai did not have easily accessible mako and barely held on to its own sovereignty, but it did have some mighty powerful booze. Reno was still working on getting used to Wutai's Revenge, a pretty looking drink some nut had concocted shortly after the war. The red-headed Turk had no idea what was in it, but he liked it.

Rude sat quietly beside him nursing some vodka. He was always quiet on the job, but usually let loose a little more off duty. This vacation had not turned out like most others though.

If Reno had run into Avalanche at any other time or place, he would have held nothing back. But he worked hard for his time off, dammit. It was bad enough that Elena had to go get mixed up with the Don that morning. If Reno had ever doubted that she was a natural blonde…

Well, no matter. Elena was fine, off in the inn nursing a bruised ego. The little Kisaragi brat was okay and there hadn't been much sign of Avalanche all afternoon. Reno suspected they might have had something to do with the gong-ringing, but his rear end had warmed too well to the bar stool by then to make investigating worthwhile. He took a careful sip of his drink as he considered how many ways Tseng could get mad at him for not doing anything. He did have one buffer against the worst of it. Shinra was finally rid of the Don. The crime boss had outlived his usefulness.

All in all it was a pretty good vacation. Too bad Rude could not seem to relax now. The bald man sat hunched over the bar, staring into his glass. He was so quiet that Reno wondered if the man was able to wind down at all. Sometimes Reno worried about Rude.

He leaned over and nudged his friend on the shoulder. "Hey, you doing okay over there." Rude grunted in the affirmative. Reno was just soused enough to try something that relative sobriety and machismo would not let him do – get in touch with Rude's feelings. "You sure? Cuz if something's bothering you… Well, I'm here. Know what I'm saying?"

Rude did not answer.

"If you ever got something on your mind, something eating away at you," Reno continued, "anything, anytime… You need somebody to talk to? I'm here, man. I'm here."

"Hmm," Rude grunted and was quiet again for a long minute. Reno sat staring at his friend. Finally Rude raised his head. "I'm thinking about getting my back hair waxed."

"…Oh… kay." Reno turned back to the bar and polished off his drink. Sometimes he really worried about Rude.

The door swung open and Yuffie Kisaragi burst in, wild-eyed and stomping angry. She marched up to the end of the bar. "Gimme sake! Gimme lotsa sake!"

"Whoa, little lady!" Reno called out from his stool. "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't want to talk to you, Turk!"

"Is that anyway to show gratitude for rescuing you from that greasy old lecher? I'm hurt." Reno watched as one barkeeper poured the rice wine for Yuffie and left the bottle. A brand new Wutai's Revenge was waiting for Reno when he reached for his own glass. He lifted it and paused to admire the way the light shone through the golden depths. "Hey, Kisaragi, can you handle one of these?"

"I don't drink that!" Yuffie snapped.

"Why not?" Reno turned his head to look at the drink from another angle. "I just want to know how a native handles it." Yuffie just grumbled and poured herself more wine. Reno nudged Rude again. "Hey, Rude, how come you never drink these?"

"Don't like the color," Rude said. "I'm worried I might be drinking somebody's pee."

Reno set the glass down and stared hard at it. He thought he heard the bartenders snickering in the background. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to find a new favorite watering hole. "Wutai's Revenge, eh?" He flicked the glass and watched the liquid vibrate. "Aw hell, if it ain't killed me yet, it ain't going to!" He picked it up, drained the whole thing and collapsed against the bar, coughing and spluttering. "Oh yeah, now that's what I call liquor!"

Yuffie watched him in disgust and went back to working on an alcohol-induced stupor of her own. It was pretty easy to ignore the Turks. She had been running into them in Wutai every now and then since the end of the war. They had a passing acquaintance, not a particularly friendly one, but familiar enough. Reno himself was personally responsible for some of the saltier additions to her Continental vocabulary. She poured the sake as fast as she could drink it for a while, then started chugging straight from the bottle.

"Hey, little lady, are you going boozehound on me now?" Reno was a bit alarmed. "You probably shouldn't, you know. You'll have a country to run one day."

"Shaddup, Turk! I got problems!"

"We all got problems, kid. I just think you should give it a few more years before you start pickling yourself."

Yuffie called him several very unflattering things in reply. Fortunately, Reno did not speak Wutanese. "Look," he said, almost toppling off his barstool, "I'm just saying whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

Yuffie took another swig out of the bottle and called for another. It damn well was that bad. Just as she got one thing sorted out with her old man, another had to pop up. She had defeated his wrinkled old behind. She had fought it out with Shake and the others and beat them all fair and square. And all this after that embarrassing encounter with Don Corneo on the mountain. She had been tired and strained and humiliated almost to the point of tears, but when faced with her father's 'suggestion' that she give up the hard life to _settle down_ and become a proper lady, she had sprung into action. Tired as she was, she funneled her outrage, held on by grit and determination and showed him that she was no helpless child, no twittering, weak _female_ child good only for alliances and heirs.

So having secured her right to rule Wutai as an independent woman when the time came, was it really too much to expect her father to actually level with her now and then? It seemed that was beyond Godo's ability. She woke fresh from a long nap, eager to take on whatever the world threw at her with her proud father at her side.

Except he was not. She found Godo awake and hurriedly getting ready, checking his hair, setting out wine, ordering the kitchen staff into a fluster to get everything right. Then he had practically told her to run along and play with her friends. Yuffie swallowed more wine to hide the burning in her eyes. Some things never changed and when they did, it was not good.

She sniffed and the prickling at the back of her eyes got worse. She was too exhausted to maintain any kind of control anymore. A lone tear ran down her cheek.

"Oh, hey, kid," Reno started. "What's the matter?"

She looked up at the red and blue blur in front of her. "Dad's got a friend," she sniffled. "A lady friend."

"Godo?" Reno was three times as loud as he needed to be.

Yuffie nodded and warmed her hands on her sake bottle. "They've been seeing each other every night for a while."

"Wow," Reno mumbled. "No wonder he's been sleeping in so much." Rude kicked him. Reno sighed and quieted down. "Look, it's not that I mean to be hard on you or anything, but your mother's been gone a long time, hasn't she?" Yuffie nodded. "Your father's not totally over the hill yet and you're clearly able to take care of yourself. A man's bound to get lonely in old age. Maybe it's just time your father moved on."

Yuffie shrugged and wiped her eyes. "Maybe."

"There you go," Reno grinned at her. "If it really gets to you, you can get back at him easy. Just get yourself a nice boyfriend and drive the old man crazy."

"What?"

The Turk spread his arms expansively, "If you're interested, baby, here I am!"

"You fucking bastard!" Yuffie shouted and took her sake bottle to the far corner of the bar.

"Hey, if you're going to bite my head off, you could at least suck on it a little first!" Reno hollered. Rude smacked him upside the head. Reno whirled around. "What was that for?"

"Don't talk that way to young girls."

"It's Wutai. She's legal," Reno protested, rubbing his head.

"And her father lives right up the street."

"Oh yeah."

Yuffie settled into a corner and tried to lose herself in observing the crowd. It was definitely dark by now and perhaps her father's friend would be up at the main house already. Yuffie was glad she had her own place closer to town. There was no way she was going back up to the courtyard tonight. Who knew what she would walk in on?

A steady stream of regulars came in through the door. Barret and Cid hopped in at some point and started a noisy drinking game. A familiar looking drummer and his flute-wielding friend started an arm-wrestling match. Yuffie stayed in the corner and tried not to be seen. She poured another cup of sake, then folded her arms on the table and stared down into the wine. She chewed over all the worrisome things in her short life; a country with no pride left, half a real family, a father who somehow expected her to be his best student _and_ a refined Wutai lady at the same time, a father who kept dropping hints about her age and his wish for grandchildren, a father who kept lecturing her on the importance of family and heritage while he was philandering in the very house she grew up in.

Life was distinctly not fair. That was why Yuffie did not feel bad for cheating now and then. She drained her cup and refilled it, resisting the urge to heap curses on her honored father's head.

He could do as he please and say what he wanted. Yuffie had never shied away from her duty to Wutai. Everything she had ever done was for Wutai. Nearly everything she ever would do would be for Wutai. She would have a country to run, a throne to secure, a nation to restore and preserve someday and she would do what she had to do. She would not be the figurehead ruler people expected her to be. She would go along with duty as far as she had to, no matter how unpleasant it might be, but she'd be damned if she let the old man run her life long after his was up.

"Excuse me." A shadow fell across her table. She looked up to see a slender boy about her own age standing there. It was the same boy who had come over to sit silently beside her in Rocket Town.

"What do you want?" Yuffie scowled. It did not chase the look of absolute awe from the boy's face.

"I just wanted to ask you something," he said.

"Well, ask away, then. I'm not promising an answer," Yuffie growled, emboldened by sake and bad spirits.

"Word's running around that someone actually defeated Godo in the Pagoda today, someone who sort of matched your description." The words spilled out in a rush. The boy was flushed with excitement. "I was wondering if maybe that was you. Was it?"

A slow grin spread across Yuffie's face. This was more like it. The awe, the open admiration, the near reverence… this was what beating Godo was about. Well, this and Wutai and the rights of the modern woman and all that other noble stuff. "Yep," she drawled. "It was me. Little Yuffie Kisaragi whipped her old man's behind."

The boy's face fell and his dark eyes grew wide. Yuffie had a sinking feeling in her gut. He was going to retreat, all proper and polite, like most people did when they realized they were talking to the Lady of Wutai.

The boy bowed deeply. Yuffie watched how his longish hair fell forward and repressed a sigh. It was such a damned shame. He wore an almost worshipful expression when he straightened up. "Kisaragi-san," he began. "I am honored to finally meet you. My name is Yuki."

Yuffie blinked. "Takeda Yuki?"

The boy nodded. Yuffie openly looked him up and down, committing his features to memory. She swallowed. This was highly unexpected. Finally, she had a face to go with the name she had known since childhood. He was not bad looking, definitely not the muscle-bound bruiser she had expected. Definitely not what Godo expected.

Yuki had very nice hair, she decided. It would look like Vincent's if it were longer. And the way Yuki was looking at her, the regard, the wonder, the absolute deference set her tingling. He was not shying away from her title and he did not look like he expected her to be more proper either. Yuffie smiled broadly. She was going to be able to walk all over this one.

"I'm pleased to finally meet you too, Snow-boy! Now why don't you pull up a chair and I'll tell you how I knocked the old man flat."

Yuki grinned and straddled a seat. Yuffie called for another cup and launched into an embellished version of her day.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Ayame's fingers flew over her koto. Her touch on the instrument was only slightly less technically proficient than usual this evening, but in a way that would be known only to the musician herself. The strings sang with unrestrained life under her hand. Emotion made for its own kind of skilful playing.

It had been quite a day for visitors, some of them friends she had not seen in a long time, some of them new but dear acquaintances and all of them brimming with their own youthful energy. They had brightened Ayame's day but she had to admit that they tired her too. In the face of all that boundless spirit, she was beginning to feel old. The koto sang with the spirit of a woman waving goodbye to her youth, feverishly making the best of what she had even as she felt the time slipping away.

She finished the piece she had been playing and stilled the strings with both hands. She looked over to where Godo sat. He was more tired than she had ever seen him. He was doing well for a man of his years, but keeping up with his adolescent daughter's boundless energy had almost flattened him for the night.

"That was lovely, Ayame-san," he complimented. "There aren't many left who play a koto like that, even among the geisha. You should give lessons."

"My lord is generous with his praise," Ayame said in a soft voice. She lowered her eyes to her instrument. "I have trained my share of maiko and I have taken a new student this very afternoon."

"Oh?" The extent of his exhaustion was clear from the amount of surprise that showed on his face. "A maiko is traveling out of the entertainment district for lessons or are you going back?"

"No, my lord. An old friend of mine brought me a talented young man who needs further training. Shall I play something more?"

"No, no," Godo slumped a little over the remains of an elaborate meal. "What I'd really like is a stiff drink."

Ayame set the koto aside and moved closer at Godo's beckoning. She carefully held her sleeve back as she poured sake. Fatigue had loosened Godo's tongue more than wine would. He was given to reminiscing about better times, like most of Wutai's old guard, but he still had a country to run and more relevant things on his mind. She had only been there a short while but had learned as much as she normally learned in a week about what was worrying the Dragon of Wutai.

It was mostly Yuffie, of course. Godo worried so much about his little girl.

"Sixteen," he said, rambling off not for the first time. "Sixteen and she's outdone all five of us. Sixteen, Ayame, sixteen!"

"She would not be half so good without your expert tutelage, Lord Godo," Ayame said gently.

"She should have been a boy," Godo moaned. Ayame repressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"The times have changed, Lord Godo."

"I suppose they have." The man sighed. "Maybe it's for the best."

"It is, Lord Godo?" This was a surprise.

"Yes." Godo sighed. "She absolutely refuses to stop traveling around, but it's been a profitable venture thus far. I have no objections as long as she can take care of herself." He stared deeply into his cup. "I'm not sure if she can, though."

Ayame schooled her expression to placid surprise. "Are you still not sure after she met the challenge of the Pagoda?"

Godo shook his head. "It's not that. I know she's good. I taught her, after all. It's just… I don't know if she's good enough." He looked Ayame in the eye and the woman shyly looked down. Godo reached over and took her chin in his hand. "Ayame, she told me something terrible." The geisha let the hush grow until Godo felt a need to fill the silence. "That group she travels with now. They are on a very dangerous mission, Ayame."

"Too dangerous for a champion of Wutai?"

Godo took a deep breath, steeling himself. "They are chasing Sephiroth. He's alive, Ayame. That murdering bastard is alive!"

The woman blinked and hoped that she looked sufficiently surprised. "He is? But he was reported to have been killed."

"Shinra lied!" Godo sat back on his heels. "They lied! I should have known. There was no way the Nemesis of Wutai could possibly have died in some little reactor accident!"

Ayame swallowed. There was something here she was not seeing. "Has he made any hostile moves?"

"He killed Shinra!" Godo still could not believe it. "All that accident nonsense was just another lie. Sephiroth killed old Shinra and half the company guard. Yuffie says he's going around looking for something and gathering followers for I don't know what."

Ayame sat still. Her hands clenched in her lap and she had to force them to go limp. What had her young General gotten himself into now? "What will you do, Lord Godo?"

There was a trace of an old, fierce fury on Godo's face, a determination that Ayame thought had long gone out of Wutai's warriors.

"We can't mobilize openly yet, not with Shinra still watching. I'm going to increase attention to city defenses. If anyone questions the repairs to the ramparts, we'll just call it historic restoration. I'm going to have to increase the grain tax. The farmers won't like it, but the royal granary is the emergency food supply for much of Wutai. I just hope we have enough time to fill it." He sighed, then stiffened his back.

"People don't take as much interest in armed combat as they used to, but there must be some way for to get the general populace to take immediate interest in arming itself. Perhaps some kind of contest for craftsmanship. Encourage the weapons makers to put their best on display for judging and general viewing and invite them to make a killing off selling what they have available."

"Will the people purchase weapons as you hope, Lord Godo?" Ayame asked, leading him as gently as she could under the circumstances. "Men cannot eat swords."

"Hmm," Godo looked thoughtful. "I'll have to subsidize sales, I suppose, since I'm increasing the taxes."

"It shall be quite an honor to the households to have a well-made sword displayed on the wall," Ayame said. Godo gave her a strange look.

"It's not for display," he said, and she hid her laughter. "We will need to train the younger ones in use. Most of them know only open-handed combat, if anything at all. Things are stepping up faster than I thought they would. We can announce more tournaments and not just in the city. We have to take this to everyone. Publicize it well and enrollment in our martial arts schools will increase." Ayame found the look in his eyes to be admirably devious. "We'll increase the exhibitions and displays and promote them as tourist attractions. We'll shore up our defenses right under Shinra's nose and they won't even see it coming."

He was taking a chance with this. Wutai risked doing too much too soon, where before it had relied on stealth and gradualism. If word of this got into the open and Shinra did not find itself preoccupied with greater problems, things could get very bad for Wutai. Godo's father would have welcomed it and gone down fighting, but Godo's father had had sons after him to carry on the fight. Godo had only a daughter and even if she had turned out as good as any boy, maybe better, it was hard to shake years of thinking only of protecting her. "If it comes to the worst, we'll retreat to the mountains. I'm not sure what condition the old tunnel network is in though. I'll send Staniv on a 'Holy Pilgrimage' to look into it."

Godo paused for breath and found Ayame staring at him as if she had never seen him before. He reached over again to hold her hand. "Don't worry. Whatever's coming, Wutai will survive, one way or another."

Ayame stared at their linked hands and then up at Godo. "I'm not worried."

"Good." He did not let go of her hand. Instead, he actually tightened his grip. "Oddly enough, I almost feel grateful towards that silver-haired bastard. Imagine him taking out the old Shinra president. Dying at the hands of his own great soldier was probably the last way the man expected to go."

The geisha woman laughed a little but said nothing. She only tightened her own grasp on Godo's hand.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Aeris ran one hand through her loose hair as she looked up and down the street. The Wutai capital was quiet at night, and darker than she expected of a city that size. Wutai had no reactors to speak of and for the most part still relied on oil lamps when night fell. The houses were lit from the inside with a soft yellow glow. The moon was waning, but the night sky was cloudless. The stars shone down in full force, touching the world with silver white and lighting bright sparks on the rippling water. Aeris felt the Planetsong drifting around her. She tried to hum along but lost the thread of intricate melody.

She shouldered her lightened knapsack and started to walk. Hardly anyone was about on the streets at night. The few people she passed were too intent on reaching their destination to take much note of a tourist. The Turtle's Paradise bar seemed like a popular spot. Aeris could hear music above the drunken laughter and breaking glass. It seemed bright and fun, not the least bit like the seedy, rundown places in Midgar where one could get a bed in the back for a few gil and warm body to fill it for a few more.

Aeris shook her head. The Turtle's Paradise might be a bright place, but it was not where she wanted to go. She had no set destination. The Planet could not help her find the one she wanted, but she knew he could not be far. She reasoned that he must be near water. That would be a problem though. Wutai was the home of the water god and the Land of a Thousand Rivers. She had no idea where to begin looking.

She stepped onto one of the city's elaborate bridges, careful to give wide berth to the man slumped heavily against one railing with a bottle in one hand. She stared over the side into the water below. There was no one there under the bridge or on the steep banks. She blew a stray wisp of hair out of her eyes and turned around. Only nine hundred and ninety nine rivers to go. This was not going to be easy.

"All rivers lead to the sea, little sister." The man on the other side of the bridge straightened up.

"Adrean?" Aeris stepped closer as she made out his features in the weak light.

"Yes," he replied simply. He propped himself up to take a seat on the rail. The bottle he held swished noisily, half empty.

Aeris tilted her head as she watched him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He held the bottle up steadily in front of her. "I'm trying to drown my sorrows. You'd think it would be easy with all the rivers around here." He slumped down again, weary and stricken with sobriety. His sorrows were evidently strong swimmers.

Aeris looked from the bottle to the man. He didn't seem especially drunk, but he was clearly not in the best of spirits. She stood beside him and leaned on the rail. "Do you want me to call somebody? Or walk you home maybe?"

Adrean shook his head. "Thank you, but it isn't necessary."

"Should I stay with you a while then?" There had to be something she could do to help. Tifa had been right. It was an odd situation when healers needed healing.

The man gave her a weak smile. "If you wish, but there's somewhere you want to go tonight, isn't there?"

Aeris laughed wryly. "I suppose, but I don't have any idea exactly where it is."

Adrean pointed to the far end of the bridge. "The ocean lies that way."

The flowergirl nodded slowly. "Thanks." She kept her place against the railing and wondered why he was so sure she needed to be out near the sea. It was as good a place as any to look, she supposed.

Adrean sighed beside her. "They just won't stop."

Aeris looked up at him, alarmed. "What won't?"

The healer rubbed his forehead with one hand. "The voices in my head. They just keep going on and on."

Aeris stared, breathless and wide-eyed, resisting the urge to edge away. She of all people knew better than that. "You hear voices?"

"Doesn't everyone?" Adrean asked innocently, looking at her from between his fingers.

"Not where I come from," Aeris told him. Her heart leapt. It was not fear. Maybe the alcohol was finally getting to him. Maybe he was a little touched in the head. Maybe he really did hear voices, just as she did. "When I was growing up, it was just me."

"Oh," the man said slowly. "Are your voices talking to you now?"

"No," Aeris shook her head for emphasis. "They haven't for a while. I got them mad a while ago and they don't really talk to me anymore." Adrean stared intently at her.

"You're lucky. When mine get mad, they talk more."

Aeris laughed, but quickly stifled it. Making light of other people's misery was hardly a nice thing to do and she had been in a similar situation often enough. Just because she was not hearing any voices at the moment did not mean he might not be. A small suspicion formed in the back of Aeris' mind. It was likely that Adrean was simply sliding into intoxication, but what if he really, _really_ heard voices, just as she did? Maybe he heard music too. Aeris listened closer to the hum of the Planet around them and tried to find the line of melody that belonged to the man beside her.

There was nothing at first. For a while Aeris was afraid that he was like Sephiroth, cut off from the Planet. Then she felt it very faintly, a strange sort of song in a different kind of voice. It was a slow melody, one that would take a very long time to finish its round. It fit smoothly with the rest of the Planet's symphony, but stood apart, as if it belonged far, far away.

His voice pulled her from the her explorations. "Are you planning to go on sometime tonight?"

"Oh, um, I suppose," she said, just a little flustered. "I mean, I planned to, so maybe I should."

"Shall I accompany you to your destination?"

"No," Aeris blurted out louder than she would have liked. Adrean did not seem to notice. It was a prickly situation. Her best friends had no idea what she had come out for tonight while a healer she barely knew had no illusions about it. However, even though Adrean knew she was seeing someone, she still did not want him getting within sight of Sephiroth. She could not understand why the man was in such a hurry for her to get where she was going. "It's not that I don't like your company. It's just that I was… I was…"

He smiled knowingly at her. "Looking for very specific company. I understand." Aeris blushed. "Don't worry about it. Most people spend their time looking for specific company after all, whether they know it or not." He met her eyes with an unwavering stare. "Everywhere they go and everything they do, it's all about finding that one special someone."

Aeris grew hot under his stare. Her mouth suddenly felt dry. Adrean laughed gently, sensing her unease. "Don't worry, little sister. I'm not here for you. Not like that."

"Okay," Aeris whispered weakly, letting out a breath of relief. Her healer friend did have a particularly penetrating gaze. He sighed himself and leaned back, tilting his head up to the sky. Chirping crickets filled the void left by stilled voices.

Aeris sought to fill the void herself, once she had recovered her balance. "Adrean?"

"Hmm?"

"Where are you going from here?"

"Who, me?" He seemed oddly confused.

Aeris leaned heavily against the railing and grinned up at him. "Well, you, yes, and the entire music troupe. What's the next stop?"

A subtle sadness softened the man's features. "There are no more stops. The tour has ended."

"Really?" Aeris could not hide her disappointment. She had hoped to catch up to the group again in some other town. "How come?"

Adrean looked far out over the river. "It's the Master. Sagara has been ailing for years. There's only so much medicine can do. He's been holding on more by grit and fire than by anything I could do for him."

The moment froze for Aeris while her mind refused to acknowledge the bad news. "What do you mean, exactly?" she asked slowly.

"Aeris," he explained gently and as simply as he could, "Sagara has come home to die."

Aeris swallowed and her heart skipped a beat. The man would return to the Planet. He would be reborn as fish or bird or tree and live again, but the music that had been his in this lifetime would not go with him. The end of life was a drastic change. Even to the Cetra, who understood the way of the world, there was sadness at a passing for all the beautiful things left only to memory.

Adrean shook his head slowly. "It has been terrible watching his decline. He has suffered so much." He surprised Aeris by wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her a little closer. "When your turn comes, I pray it's quick." He kissed her chastely on the forehead and released her.

Aeris reached up to touch the spot where his lips had been. That was a strange sort of benediction to give someone. He had definitely had more alcohol that was good for him "What… what happens now?"

Adrean smiled a little. "Don't worry about the troupe. They are skilled enough to manage on their own. Yuki is still only an apprentice, but I found him a new teacher, an old friend of mine. Not half the recognition Master Sagara has, but just as skilled."

The Cetra leaned up against the rail again. "That's good. So he's going to continue his music studies."

"Well, that or get married," Adrean said blithely.

Aeris laughed out loud. "Seriously, he's only… what, sixteen? Seventeen?"

"The Wutai nobility do it young." The healer shrugged and took a good sip from his bottle. "The whole thing's arranged."

"You're not serious," Aeris said, almost horrified.

"Oh yes," Adrean explained. "Yuki's been betrothed almost from the cradle. It's a very advantageous match, I hear. The lady in question is highly ranked."

Aeris knew her mouth was open but could not make herself shut it. She struggled for a while to make a coherent sound. "Is he actually going to go through with it?"

"It's what's expected of him."

The flowergirl was appalled. "People don't live like that anymore! Things have changed! He doesn't have to go through it!"

"Things have changed but Wutai is still a different place with different rules. Whatever happens now would be up to him and the young lady to work out." Adrean shrugged. "It doesn't have to be terrible. I hope they can at least get along."

Aeris wrapped her arms around herself. "I'd hope so. Still, I'm glad nobody's telling me who to marry."

Adrean coughed lightly and turned his head up to the sky with a curious grin on his face. Aeris watched him, puzzled. "What about you?"

"What?" He looked down again.

"What are you going to do?" Aeris stated. He was rather slow this evening.

"Me?" His voice was slow and dreamy. "I think I'll just stay here and watch the night sky for a while."

Aeris rolled her eyes. That was not what she had meant, but it was an answer at any rate. "You do this a lot?"

"Absolutely." Adrean nodded. "Nearly every clear night, in fact."

Aeris beamed. That was a pleasant surprise. "So you must know all the constellations, right?"

The man laughed dryly. "Oh yes, dear, I know the constellations. I _know_ the constellations."

"Then maybe you can end a debate for me," Aeris said brightly. "The Tree constellation, Aria… oh, where is it now?" It was

"Right up there." Adrean pointed.

"Right." Aeris focused on the small, upside down U-shape. "Is it really a tree, or just an umbrella."

"Neither." Adrean smirked at her. "It's an archer." He stretched his arms in imitation of someone pulling a bowstring. "See how she aims? She's protecting the royal family."

"All right," Aeris murmured. "An archer, then." Adrean nodded to himself with satisfaction and took a sip from the bottle. Aeris turned slightly and traced familiar patterns in the sky with her eyes. "Is Taia really a crown, or just a squiggle."

Adrean took a very deep draught before answering that one. "It's a crown, Aeris. A very heavy one."

"It is?"

"Yes." Adrean held his bottle up to his face to see how much he had left in it. "It only looks small because it's so far away." He scowled at the dregs in his bottle and swished them around a bit. Aeris tried not to laugh.

"You know your stuff," she complimented, then turned around seeking other shapes she knew. "Oh dear. I can't find the chocobos."

Adrean lowered the bottle with a heavy sigh. "Those are in the southern sky. We're too far north to see them."

"Oh," Aeris said sadly. She had fond memories of a night under the southern sky. "I like the southern sky."

Adrean leaned over and let the bottle fall a few inches onto the bridge. It landed with the hollow ringing of strong glass. The man straightened up on the railing and sat very still. "I don't like it, really. It makes me a little homesick."

Aeris reached out and patted his shoulder. "Will you go home then?"

The healer shook his head. "No, but I have been attached to Wutai for far too long. It's time I moved on." His voice grew raspy. "I'll go somewhere far, far away, where nobody knows my face."

"Hey," Aeris chirped, trying to brighten the situation. "If I keep traveling, maybe I'll run into you somewhere." Adrean did smile at that.

"Maybe you will." He frowned up at the sky. "I've kept you here far too long. Somebody might be waiting for you." He gestured with his head towards the ocean.

"Are you going to be all right?" Aeris asked.

"I'll be fine," he replied, smiling. "But just to be sure, you better take the extra bottle of sake that's by that post there. I think I've had enough for one night."

Aeris looked down near her feet and saw the full bottle hidden in the shadow of the bridgework. She didn't want it, but she didn't want Adrean drinking himself into the gutter, or worse, a river, to have his body dredged up come morning. She bent down and picked the bottle up. "Thanks," she said simply.

Adrean nodded. "Safe journey out, Aeris," he murmured and the girl started on her way with one more spared smile for him. He watched her intently as she went. She really was a pretty girl, he reflected. Lovely figure and a sharp, inquisitive mind. Almost perfect. His eyes were drawn to her slender waist. She really was tiny in the middle, a perfect, if slender hourglass figure. Quite pretty, just a bit thin. Her middle really was too skinny.

Adrean threw his head back and picked out the proud, impatient figures in the night sky. "Yes, I know. I don't know what's taking those two so long. Maybe this time they'll get it right."

* * *

**A.N.:** I know it's been a longer while than usual since I last updated this story, but I do have a reason. I graduated this year and things have just been incredibly hectic, what with the paperwork for before and after the momentous event. This chapter is double the usual length to make up for the wait. I hope you enjoyed reading it!


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix. No profit is made from this work. All original characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty Five**

A small fire crackled to life on the long strip of sand. Sephiroth stared down at the growing flames as he waited. There was not much more he could do. It was a dark night with a waning moon and the sea breeze was cold this high north. His coat lay under him, as usual, and he had arranged his armor and boots beside it with painstaking neatness. Aeris would come, he was sure, and he hoped she would not take too long.

It was odd how they had come to this unspoken arrangement. Late walks, secret meetings by the water, stolen nights of shared sleep and scarcely a word of it to anyone. Strife certainly had not figured anything out, not that Sephiroth would have let him. The silver-haired man wondered vaguely if Aeris would be able to find him out here on the beach. They never made any set plans and yet she always managed to seek him out somehow. Or he found her. Using Strife's eyes was a roundabout way of keeping track of things, but it did the job.

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around his knees and stared out at the water. Wutai had many beaches but the sea was rough and grayish-green, as if it were perpetually stormy. The sand was more pebbly than fine and tall grasses grew at sparse intervals right down to the tide line. Tourists wouldn't come here for the beaches.

The swordsman caught himself idly nibbling his lower lip, something he had not done since childhood. He stopped himself and grunted in annoyance. He had spent the better part of the evening trying to pull himself together. It hadn't really worked. He sighed. Settling down was proving harder than he thought it would be, though he had to admit that it had been one hell of a morning. One fiery hell of a morning.

He had a mission now, one unlike any other he had ever taken. It was easier to think of it this way. A mission, objective: confess his… feelings.

The prospect was disturbingly unsettling. He wasn't supposed to have such feelings in the first place. Things like this just weren't meant to happen. Sephiroth still could not shake the embarrassed outrage that came with being ambushed by emotion. He plucked a blade of grass and began idly stripping it down its length, more to give his hands something to do than with any purpose in mind. He could always toss the shreds into the fire.

For the millionth time he tried to come up with a reasonable strategy for his mission. It was no use. The resourceful, strategic part of his soldier's mind offered only one option – just say it. Logically, Sephiroth knew that was the simplest solution but his gut twisted at the thought of it. There were so many things that could go wrong. Aeris might not completely return the sentiment. She might brush it off or ignore it. Or laugh in his face. Sephiroth knew enough of her to realize that it was unlikely, but it was still a possibility and just the thought of it was enough to keep him going in circles. He was thankful that this was not a real battle. In this frame of mind he was liable to get his feet blown out from under him.

A twig in the fire crackled and Sephiroth twitched at the sound. He took a deep breath and then blew some stray silver hairs out of his face. Waiting was not helping the situation. All evening he had been swinging from being only mildly on edge to outright nervousness and it was beginning to wear on him. He wished Aeris would find him quickly so he could just get the whole thing over with. At the same time he dreaded her approach.

He twitched when a light scuffing sound reached him. He turned his head in the direction it was coming from. There was no one in sight yet, but the sound continued. Sephiroth rose slowly to wait. He knew that light step.

Aeris appeared over the crest of a low dune. She paused to scan the beach for a moment. Sephiroth felt breathless watching her. He lifted a hand halfway to wave to her but his fingers could not stop shaking. It made no difference. Aeris spotted him even as he dropped his hand helplessly to his side. She smiled broadly and skipped over the sand. Her hair flew out behind her as she ran to him. Sephiroth felt the nervous edge flitter away. She looked so happy to see him. Something told him that no matter what happened tonight, everything would be all right.

"Sephi-," Aeris called and bounced right into the man's waiting arms. Sephiroth stepped back with the impact. His arms tightened around his small lover of their own accord. The breath that was knocked out of him burst out in a peal of joyous laughter. He picked Aeris off the ground and whirled her around till she squealed. "Seph, put me down," she gasped, "You're making me dizzy!"

Sephiroth set her down and grinned into her mussed-up hair when she collapsed against his chest. She wrapped her arms tight around his waist to hold herself up. The man repaid her squeeze with a bear hug that lifted her to her toes again.

"Seph!" Aeris gasped. "Ribs… need… breathe."

Sephiroth held on for one second more before easing up. "Sorry. Just missed you so much." He buried the words into the curls of her hair. Dark locks brushed against his arms and he tangled his fingers in the ends. He loved her hair down like this. He bent to enjoy the scent of it as she nuzzled his chest.

"I missed you too," Aeris murmured and bit his nipple.

Sephiroth yipped in surprise. "Well, you're certainly not wasting any time."

"There's not a lot of time to waste," Aeris replied, tilting her chin up to grace him with a devious smile. "Were you planning on just standing here all night?" She wore that rare, heavy-lidded expression that had taken Sephiroth by complete surprise that night in the creaky mansion.

He could hardly believe that he was responsible for bringing this forwardness about but he was hardly about to complain. She had been so shy, even afraid of him in the beginning. Now she felt comfortable enough with him to tease just as she did with her friends. Sephiroth felt his blood burning a trail distinctly away from his brain. It was a strange relief from the overthinking he had been doing all evening. "Ah, I suppose we could get to the… um, lying down part eventually."

"Good." Aeris stepped out of the circle of his arms and swung her bag off her shoulder. "I snuck my sleeping bag out for us this time." She undid the flap and began tugging out the huge worn thing, all business.

Sephiroth reeled. "You little flirt!" he scolded, almost folding in with the growing discomfort below his belt.

"Flirt? Me?" Aeris blinked vacuously up him with eyes too vapid to be sincere.

"Yes, you, you tease!" Sephiroth lunged forward to crush her against his chest again. Aeris squealed and giggled as she tried to get loose but Sephiroth was having none of that. He leaned forward, tilting her dangerously off balance as he growled in her ear. "You kiss me that way and give me that look and then you want to stop to unfold a blanket? I call that teasing, my dear."

Aeris smiled smugly up at him. "Well, I call it payback."

Sephiroth paused. "Payback? What for?"

The woman rolled her eyes at him. "What do you think you're doing when you walk around without a shirt all the time? Every time I come to see you, you always manage to be flashing some skin. The very first time I laid eyes on you, you were shaking your bare behind at me."

The man frowned. "I recall, my dear, that my behind was indeed bare, but I was hardly shaking it." His gaze softened. "Why, do you want me to?"

Aeris laughed and planted a quick kiss on his nose. "Help me spread out the sleeping bag first."

Sephiroth reluctantly put her down properly and took the bundle from her arms. Aeris shoved his coat aside raced after the free ends of the sleeping bag when Sephiroth unfurled it. Together they set it out smoothly on the sand where Sephiroth's coat had been. Aeris knelt down and set her bag on one corner to keep it from blowing away.

"That's better. Your poor coat's taking a beating with me always sleeping on it." She picked up the heavy coat and shook it to get the loose sand off. Sephiroth knelt down and took the coat from her to fold it himself. Aeris brushed her hair out of her eyes so she could watch him do it. The man aligned the coat neatly with his boots and armor and turned to find Aeris giving him an odd smile.

"What's so funny?"

"You're so neat," Aeris said, laughing. "Everything has to be all perfectly geometrically arranged."

"There's nothing wrong with a little neatness."

"Maybe," Aeris drawled, "but looking at you just now, I got the feeling that if your boots were just a teeny little bit crooked, you'd drop everything to straighten them."

Sephiroth made a pouty little frown. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"Oh," Aeris murmured. "So it's just coincidence that the stones around the fire are in a perfect circle?"

"Don't be silly, Aeris," Sephiroth protested. "They're not a perfect circle." He leaned over to check just in case. His shoulders sank at what he saw. Just as Aeris had said, the stones were all arranged in a very neat circle. Even worse, they were all roughly the same size, shape and color and were evenly spaced. When Sephiroth looked back, Aeris was smiling smugly at him again. Sephiroth looked sheepish for a moment. He had needed something to do with his hands that evening. "I didn't do it that way on purpose."

"Of course you didn't," Aeris said, chuckling. She scooted closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. "You do know what they call people who can make perfect circles free-handed, though, don't you?"

Sephiroth had a sinking feeling in his gut. "No."

"Insane." Aeris stifled a snicker and kissed her lover's bare upper arm.

Sephiroth reached around and wrapped his arms around her. "I suppose I must be insane. I'm sitting here taking lip from a woman half my size when I could be kissing her instead." He wrestled Aeris down beneath him and claimed her mouth.

She opened her lips readily for him and wrapped her arms around his neck with a soft cry. Sephiroth ran one hand heavily down the length of her body, pausing to push her jacket out of the way. Aeris whimpered as his hand slid down her thigh and made its way back up. Sephiroth deepened the kiss and moaned when he felt her body rise against his. He reached down again to move the length of her skirt aside. He needed to feel her skin. Aeris moved her bared leg up along his thigh and wrapped it around his back. Sephiroth gasped for breath and adjusted his position to reach her neck while he fumbled with his belt.

Aeris cried out and began twisting her hands in his hair. Encouraged, Sephiroth growled and bit a trail none too tenderly along her collar bone. Aeris moaned his name over and over. Her limbs flailed about his body. Sephiroth smiled and licked a slow line up the strained column of her throat, eager to reach her mouth again.

"Seph!" Aeris cried sharply and flicked her lover on the ear. "Get off!"

"That's what I'm trying to do," Sephiroth grunted past the pain. Aeris slid one hand between them and shoved his chest.

"I mean it, Seph! You're on my hair!"

The man froze and looked down at her. As she had said, the hand he had planted beside her head to support his weight was pressing down on her hair. There was not much room left for her head to move and the tugging must have been painful. Sephiroth pulled his hand away with a jerk. "I'm sorry!"

He rolled off her to let her recover. Aeris sat up wincing and patted her abused locks tenderly. She combed her hair back gently with her fingers, then turned around to let her lover know that it was all right.

"It's okay. It was bound to happen. My hair's a mess. It gets into everything." She pushed her windblown curls out of her eyes. Sephiroth sat up and took her face in both hands.

"It's not a mess. It's lovely." He took one lock in his fingers and gently pulled it straight. It instantly reverted to a softly waved form upon release. "My hair could never do anything like that."

"But it probably never gets super-frizzy either," Aeris said, looking up at the man's liquid silver strands. She reached up to run a hand through his hair. It was so soft for something that looked like metal in the light. It flowed smoothly between her fingers with not even the slightest hint of anything resembling a snarl. Sephiroth's eyes fluttered closed as Aeris reached up to stroke him again and again.

He caught her wrist midway after a while. Aeris stared at him, silently questioning. Sephiroth met her eyes. He took a deep breath, then another. Aeris' skin was lit gold by the fire. The night cast the hollow of her throat, the curve of her cheek in a blue shadow. Her lips were parted and glistening. Sephiroth could feel her pulse fluttering beneath his fingers. He swallowed. Half-formed thoughts sorted themselves into simple words of confession and stayed poised on the tip of a tongue that could not bring itself to speak them.

"Sephiroth?" Aeris asked, "Is something wrong?"

The moment passed. Sephiroth exhaled, shaking his head. "No."

"Good," Aeris said in relief and freed her hand from Sephiroth's loosened grasp. She pressed in closer to his side and began softly kissing his cheek. Sephiroth leaned in to the gentle touch as she buried her face in his hair. Her breath was warm on his neck and her mouth was tender and moist. She moaned against him and nuzzled his hair again. "You smell good," she said lowly. "Like fresh melon."

Sephiroth's breath grew shaky. He recalled his attempts to scrub the fruit-scented shampoo out of his hair earlier that morning. It had been too feminine for his taste but if it got Aeris to react like this, he would merrily squash a ripe cantaloupe onto his head every morning. Or every other morning. Aeris' reaction would probably lead to some difficulties getting his pants on. Sephiroth groaned just a little at the growing discomfort. Forget the mission. Some things just had to be taken care of first.

Aeris paused. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Sephiroth straightened. "I was just thinking that the undressing should go more smoothly since we've given each other a little more space for it."

"Well, you're already a good few steps ahead of me." Aeris said, taking the chance to slip her red jacket completely off. She set it on the pile near Sephiroth's coat and began to work on her boots. Sephiroth stopped her by swinging her feet into his lap and pulling off her boots himself. He peeled her socks off gently and tucked them neatly into the boots, then set the footwear down next to his own tall boots in a neat line. Aeris watched him with an odd smile.

Sephiroth brought one foot up to press a kiss on her ankle. Soft lips gave way to a questing tongue.

Aeris shivered from more than just the cold air. She rubbed her bare arms to ward off the chill. Sephiroth cradled her foot against his chest and looked at her, concerned.

"Cold?"

Aeris nodded and Sephiroth immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The girl leaned into his warmth, winding her arms around his waist and rubbing her feet along his legs.

"You know," Sephiroth murmured, his voice low and husky, "we could go for that swim you promised me to warm ourselves up."

Aeris tilted her head to look at him. "I don't remember promising you any swim."

"Oh?" the swordsman asked in the same low purr. "You don't remember that night on the beach?"

"I remember," Aeris said lightly. "I remember I didn't promise you anything."

Sephiroth groaned and slumped forward till his forehead rested on Aeris' shoulder. "I'm going to have to be very careful around you, aren't I?"

"Mmhmm." Aeris smiled and leaned back into his embrace.

Sephiroth nudged her gently. "So how about it?"

"What?"

"That swim. It'll warm us up."

"Are you crazy?" Aeris bumped her head lightly against his. "Look at that water. It must be freezing."

"I'd warm it up for you," Sephiroth murmured. Aeris snuggled herself closer to his skin.

"No way. I'm not getting into that water."

Sephiroth unwrapped his arms from around her with a grin. "Why not? Still worried about your lack of a swimsuit? I don't have one either."

Aeris squeaked from the sudden cold and flattened herself right into the blanket to try to keep warm. Sephiroth leaned over her, planting one arm down on either side of her head to cage her beneath him. He leered down at her but there was something playful in his expression.

"Swim," he commanded, bringing one hand to the neckline of her dress. Long fingers trailed lightly down the row of buttons. "Or I tickle you to pieces."

"You wouldn't!"

Sephiroth flexed his fingers dangerously over her ribs. "Wouldn't I?"

Aeris caught the glint in his eye and returned it with one of her own. She reached up and pressed her palms flat against Sephiroth's chest. She let her hands moved downwards, let her fingers trail over hardened nipples. The swordsman's eyes glazed over. Aeris leaned up a bit and whispered, "You'll have to catch me first."

She rolled out from under him and began to run down the beach. Sephiroth cried out and collapsed face first into the blanket.

"Why, you-," he sputtered. He pushed himself off the ground and began to chase after her. "I'll get you for that, minx!"

Aeris looked back, laughing as she ran. "No, you won't," she taunted.

"Yes, I will." Sephiroth stopped on the sand even though he was gaining ground. Time to teach the little tease a lesson. He put one hand out towards the laughing woman.

Aeris was breathless and lightheaded from the success of her little trick. She felt almost as if she were running on air. It took a few moments for her to realize that she really was. "Hey!" She looked around wildly. She was floating a few feet above the ground, pedaling futilely against the emptiness below her.

"Told you I'd get you," Sephiroth purred as he approached. He gestured and Aeris spun slowly in midair.

She laughed, half-hysterical. "Okay, you win. Put me down."

"Not yet, I think." The swordsman flashed her a wicked smile.

Aeris pouted. "Aww, I'll be good, I promise."

"I'm not done with you," Sephiroth said simply. His fingers moved slightly and the buttons on Aeris' dress began to slip through the buttonholes.

"What are you doing?" Aeris squeaked.

The wicked look slipped from Sephiroth's face for a moment. "Well, we were planning to get to the undressing, right?"

Aeris huffed and brought her hands up to hold her dress on. "You kinky bastard."

"And you like it that way," Sephiroth teased. He moved his hand again and the buttons came undone as quickly as a zipper. The straps slid off the woman's shoulders and the fabric was pulled away from her body by ghostly fingers.

Aeris' residual resistance faded. She let her arms fall limp at her sides. The dress floated off and fluttered away, leaving her suspended in midair wearing nothing but her simple undergarments. Sephiroth looked pleased at the result of his handiwork. Aeris was breathless.

"Sephiroth," she gasped, unwittingly drawing the swordsman's eyes to the way her chest heaved. "I'm cold."

"Oh," Sephiroth said, blinking. He lowered his hand and let Aeris drift to the sand. He wrapped his arms around her as soon as she landed and began to rub the chill out of her skin. "You get cold quickly."

Aeris sighed and leaned in against his chest. "You're always warm."

Sephiroth kissed the top of her head. He wanted to tell her that he would keep her warm as long as she would let him, but he was having trouble forming the words. Aeris pressed her lips against his chest.

"Sephiroth?"

"Yes?" His voice cracked a bit over the simple word.

"Are you going to finish undressing me or what?"

"Hmph, eager little thing, aren't you?" Sephiroth placed his large hands on her shoulders. "Guess it's a good thing I brought you down. If I'm finally getting the chance to take your underwear off I want to do it with my own two hands."

Aeris made a contented sound. "You don't mind that it's all boring cotton stuff?"

Sephiroth was a little confused. "Why would I mind?"

The flowergirl hid her blush against his shoulder. "I don't know. You wouldn't think something lacy was more exciting?"

"Perhaps," Sephiroth murmured into her hair. "But it wouldn't make much sense while you're hiking over mountains. I'm still a soldier. Practicality is admirable." He traced the clasp of her plain bra. "Of course, once I get you someplace where it would be convenient to be impractical…" He brought his hands around to cup her breasts through the cotton, lifting them slightly. "I wouldn't mind seeing these in something… thoroughly flimsy." His fingers flexed in a gentle mimicry of clawing.

Aeris blushed. Sephiroth smiled slyly. There was still some of the old fearful shyness in her. He could really enjoy himself ferreting out every last bit of it. He tilted her chin up and kissed her cheeks, then her forehead before pressing a very soft kiss on her lips. He was careful with her, reminded of her skittishness the very first time he had kissed her.

But she wasn't the skittish one now. She was matching him move for move, letting him set the pace for the while, letting the gentle brushing of lips become a soft clasping. Sephiroth grasped her solidly about the waist to keep her from feeling his hands shake, but the kiss they shared remained gentle and hesitant. He had to wonder if this was how she had felt that first night under the trees, not knowing what would come, what was at stake in a simple kiss.

He faltered. Parted lips stilled and his breath mingled with hers. It hit him like lightning that this kind of indecision was fatal on the field, that it allowed the enemy time to get the jump on him.

Aeris was no enemy but she caught him anyway. She slid her tongue along his lower lip and into his mouth, coaxing him to respond. He did, slowly, letting her have control.

It scared him, this surrender, but he didn't know what else to do. He did not know how to tell the woman how much she had come to mean to him. He had never meant for her to mean anything at all. He swayed a little on his feet, alarmed at his slip into passivity. Aeris paid no mind, winding her arms around his neck and drawing him in closer so she could get a better taste. Sephiroth's breath hitched before Aeris covered his mouth fully and began to nibble his lower lip the way he had often done hers.

Sephiroth blinked. This was what he had wanted. She was eager and willing and fully responsive. She enjoyed the things they did together. She sought him out so they could do more. But that wasn't all he wanted to give her anymore and it wasn't all he wanted from her either. Love could supposedly make him happy, if he let it, but one wrong step in any direction could make him hurt so much. He didn't know if he liked that kind of risk.

Aeris broke off the kiss and stared up at him. "You're distracted."

Sephiroth stared down at her. He tried to answer but all that came out was a soft sigh. He leaned forward till they were forehead to forehead, as if that would allow her to feel the confusion in his mind, or let her pick out what he wanted to say from the muddle. He took a deep breath and waited, but she did not say anything.

"I… was just thinking," he murmured.

"About what?" She asked the question softly. Her tone was not threatening. It was almost inviting. Sephiroth felt the strange knot inside him tighten at that. He was used to commands and derision and cold assessment when it came to his reactions, symptoms, whatever they were. Not this gentle interest. Not this warm concern. He swallowed.

"About us. Where we'll go from here."

Aeris made a small sound and rested her cheek against his chest. "I'm glad. I was worried you might be thinking of someone else."

Sephiroth's brow furrowed at the edge to her voice. There was something possessive there, maybe even a bit jealous. "There's no one else," he said. "Just you. Always you." He stood rigid on the sand, waiting for an answer of any kind.

Aeris tilted her head back up. "Good." The smile she gave him was small, but sweet. It didn't make him worry that all she wanted of him was his body. But then her hands slid down his back and she worked her fingers under his belt. "Let's not waste the night, okay?"

"I need more than a night," Sephiroth murmured. Aeris kissed his bare skin, reminding him that stolen nights were all they had. Sephiroth tightened his grip around her. One night was not enough, not for what he wanted. Stealing her away from her friends was not enough now. It was not enough to get her away from them. He wanted her to be _with_ him entirely, all his and no one else's, not because it would serve his purposes but because he knew something now that he hadn't before and going on without it didn't seem remotely pleasant.

Aeris nipped him again, bringing him back to the present. Sephiroth growled. He had tonight and he would not waste it. If his damned voice wouldn't cooperate, there were other ways to show Aeris what she meant to him. One way or another, he'd get his forever.

He bent low and bit her neck, right below her ear. She cried out just as he had known she would, and her back arched, pressing her curves flush against him. Sephiroth's eyes glowed with the satisfied smile his mouth was too busy to bear. He knew how to make Aeris want him. Just plain 'wanting' wasn't enough, not anymore, but it was a start.

Aeris moaned under his tongue. Sephiroth knew every point on her throat that made her breath catch, knew when to tighten his grip on her to keep her from falling down. The look that he knew had to be on her face was burned into his head. He kept her distracted with his tongue while he slid his arms up to work on the clasp of her bra.

His fingers, usually precise and graceful, were clumsy from need. The hooks evaded his first attempt. And his second. He bit Aeris' collarbone, drawing out another whimper as he fingered the cotton again, struggling to keep her hair from tangling in his fingers.

Working blindly was no good. He nibbled his way around Aeris' neck and peered over her shoulder to get a look at what he was doing. He bit down a bit harder than he intended to when he realized that her hair was blocking his view.

"Mm, Seph!" Aeris breathed. Sephiroth licked the spot to soothe it and leaned around a little bit more. His neck was bent at a strange angle, allowing him to nibble near the back of her neck. He remembered that she had seemed to like the scrape of teeth there, where the fine soft hairs grew at the nape. She had responded well enough to it when he'd had her on all fours in Nibelheim. He drew his teeth together slowly over the same spot, knowing that he would leave a furious red mark if he had to keep it up much longer. Proper payment for the crick he was going to get in his neck, at any rate.

He growled again when the clasp, hanging on the verge of giving way, changed its mind and slipped firmly back into place. Sephiroth swore at the thing in his mind and dug his chin into Aeris' shoulder, bracing himself for a battle.

"Need some help?" Aeris asked. As unaccustomed to normal human behavior as Sephiroth was, he could not miss the mirthful lilt in her voice.

"No, no, I have it," he grated out, then set his jaw and his mind to the task, pushing her hair boldly out of the way now that there was no point in covering up his difficulty. "Dammit," he muttered. It was one of those three-hook varieties. Why couldn't it just have been two or one? Why couldn't it have been one of those flimsy silky things that were_ meant_ to be ripped off a willing body? He felt Aeris' shoulders shaking slightly under his chin.

"Sure you don't want me to help?" Aeris reached one hand back in that strange double-jointed fashion women seemed to develop just to be able to deal with their devilish undergarments.

Sephiroth pushed her hand away. "I can manage," he insisted. Aeris' response was more buried laughter.

The soldier tackled his task head on, fidgeting to get the hooks to slide out of the eyes all at once, mumbling several choice phrases he had picked up during the war. Aeris didn't understand a word of it, but she could guess the meaning.

"Stupid hook," he began to mumble in Continental speech again. "Ridiculous, convoluted, overcomplicated, unnecessary underwear. It's some woman that invented this thing, had to be." Aeris giggled a little. Sephiroth could feel her grinning against his chest.

"I didn't think underwear would give you so much trouble, soldier."

Sephiroth grunted. "Despite anything the tabloids might have printed, I don't have that much experience removing women's underwear."

"Really. Well, I suppose the girls just used to toss their frillies at you."

"Yes," Sephiroth mumbled without thinking. He was rewarded with a stinging smack on the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for, woman?" He stepped back, rubbing the spot. "I try to be honest in this relationship and that's what I get?"

"Honest?" Aeris' shoulders drooped as the jealous frown she wore gave way. Sephiroth could not stay mad at her. It was strange having someone act this way over him, but nice, somehow. He was… wanted. It made him feel just a little bit hopeful. He gingerly wrapped his arms around his lover again.

"I didn't think girls really did throw underwear at you," Aeris murmured.

"It's not like I asked them to," Sephiroth replied, running his hands through her hair. "Someone tossed a red thong at me while I was in a military parade once."

Aeris stared up at him, eyes wide. "What did you do?"

"I ducked. The officer behind me got it right in the face."

"Eww!" Aeris wrinkled her nose. "I hope it was clean."

Sephiroth shrugged. "I never bothered to ask. In any case," the swordsman slid his hands around Aeris' back again. "I was not defeated by underwear then and I'm not going to be now!"

Aeris grinned and leaned in closer. "Good luck, Soldier!" She tilted her head to one side to keep her hair out of the way. Sephiroth tackled his new mission with both hands and a growl. Aeris held her laughter in at his mutterings.

"Try and slide both sides along each other before you separate them."

"I'll get it, I'll get it."

"… You know, if you twitch your wrist just right it'll pop ri-."

"I said I can handle it."

"All right then, Soldier boy."

Sephiroth took a deep breath and ran his fingers lightly over the clasps again. Then he gritted his teeth and attacked. "Aha! Got it!" He waved the prize over his head like a flag of victory.

Aeris watched him with her arms crossed over her chest to ward off the night air. "You're not getting any ideas about roasting it over an open flame in retribution, are you? Because I'm going to need it in the morning."

Sephiroth paused midstep in his little victory dance. "Can I at least interrogate it?"

"Fine, but no torture. That's unethical."

"Ok, then. I'll be good to it and we can work out a prisoner exchange in the morning." Aeris rolled her eyes when the swordsman tucked his trophy away in his belt.

"You don't have to cover up, you know," Sephiroth said, looking down at her chest. "I already know what they look like." Aeris stared blankly up at him. "Oh, right, you're cold again." He scooped her up and jogged back towards the dying fire. "Don't worry, dear, I'll keep you warm."

* * *

**A.N.:** Ewww, cooties! Ooey-gooey, silly in love people! I would have updated sooner if I could, but I hardly have the time or energy left at the end of the day to make the usual effort. Fall semester is always an adjustment period, even more so now that it's an entirely different level of study. Thanks for waiting. It really means a lot to me. Now y'all might want to run off and brush your teeth before Sephy-in-love gives you cavities. :P  



	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**Note:** This chapter has been heavily edited for graphic content. The full version can be found at LiveJournal and MediaMiner, linked in my profile. I'm so sorry about the wait, which is ridiculous even for me. It's been one heck of a year.

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work. All original characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

It only took a few minutes for Sephiroth to stoke the fire back to full, blazing life and get Aeris wrapped up snuggly in her bedroll. Of course, he was all wrapped up right there with her for maximum warmth. He leaned heavily over her, enjoying the press of her soft curves against his bare skin. Aeris reached her arms around him, trying to pull him impossibly closer. Sephiroth obeyed her urgings, almost trying to meld his skin to hers. He overbalanced and slipped the side with a grunt and settled for spooning around her instead.

Aeris whimpered at the loss of his weight, but quieted when Sephiroth wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. She wriggled her hips into place, earning a satisfied little groan from the man. Sephiroth nuzzled the nape of her neck and settled into the folds of the sleeping bag, finally comfortable. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the closeness. The fine hairs on Aeris' neck tickled his nose. He blew them softly away and kissed her lightly when she shivered.

Aeris sighed happily. "This is nice."

"Mmm," Sephiroth murmured and kissed her bare skin again. "I think I could stay like this forever."

Aeris laughed. "We'd have to get up sometime." She rolled over to face him. Sephiroth growled lightly but stilled when Aeris kissed him. She smiled up at him with all the warmth he had found himself longing for lately. She did not shy away from him in the least, able even to meet his oddly feline eyes without flinching. There had been so very few people in his life who had not looked at him with fear and he had to wonder why he did not really miss it.

No one had ever sought him out the way Aeris did, inching towards his warmth with no hesitation. She played with his hair, twining the strands around her fingers, trying to coax the stick-straight strands into some kind of curl. She was clearly comfortable being close to him. He had to remind himself that he had wanted that all along. He was comfortable with her too, in a way he never expected. There were so many things he had done and would do for her that had never crossed his mind before. He had never really sought this much closeness or been so open with anyone. It was _the love_, he supposed.

A deep breath failed to ease the tightness in his chest. Everything he wanted felt out of reach even though Aeris was lying right beside him, wrapped in his arms. How did one hold on to forever? Sephiroth tightened his hold on his little woman, as if to keep her from slipping away.

Aeris brushed his hair away from his eyes. "You okay?" she asked quietly. Sephiroth caught her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Always, when I'm with you," he replied and began kissing her fingers.

"Hmm, you big sap." Aeris' eyes sparkled. Her fingers twitched slightly at the feel of his tongue but she let him continue what he was doing.

Sephiroth leaned over to reach her lips and sank into the circle of her arms, taking care not to rest on her hair. He trailed his hands down her neck, brushing his fingers lightly over her pulse. He grasped her shoulders gently when she shivered. Aeris smiled against his lips then arched her neck to offer him her throat. She was learning what she liked very quickly. He bent low to nuzzle her. It was what she wanted. He loved it too, feeling the tender skin and the constant purring that rolled up beneath his lips.

He shifted lower to trail his tongue down her chest and carefully cupped a breast in his hand. Aeris murmured his name into his hair. She whimpered sharply when he squeezed her nipple but she did not ask him to stop. Sephiroth was really starting to like that. He did not want to hurt her but trying to be gentle all the time was just killing him. Aeris hardly looked the type, but she had definitely shown that she could handle quite a bit. Sephiroth loved not having to worry about roughing her up. He felt her fingers dig lightly into his back and remembered that she would rough back.

He stopped what he was doing and grabbed Aeris' hand to examine it. He peered down intently at her nails. They were neatly trimmed to a practical length and they were not particularly sharp but with enough force, they could still do some damage. Sephiroth felt a hundred fine lines burning down his back again.

"Something wrong?" Aeris blinked down at him.

Sephiroth shook his head. "It's nothing." Then he bent down again to attack a nipple with his teeth. Aeris squealed and buried her hands in his hair. Sephiroth felt those little nails on his scalp and repaid the scratching with teasing nibbles. Aeris cried out, arching her back and pressing more of her bosom against his face.

She seemed almost pained, with her eyes shut tight as if to hold back tears. Each breath left her with a soft, wavering wail. Sephiroth set his chin lightly on her quivering belly and gave her time to recover, waiting for her permission to continue. She sank slowly back to the ground and lay there, breathing heavily.

Sephiroth waited a while. "Not good?" he asked.

Aeris moaned and struggled to sit up. "It's… good. It's just kind of a lot."

Sephiroth kissed her lightly just below her navel. Even that slight contact was enough to make her quiver. "You want me to stop?"

Aeris shook her head. "No, it's good, I just… I don't know how much I can take."

"You can take more than you realize." Sephiroth considered it for a moment. "Aeris, you do trust me, don't you?"

Aeris frowned slightly at the question, then ran her fingers through his hair. "I trust you."

Sephiroth smiled. "I'm glad."

Aeris looked down at him, blinking slowly. Sephiroth's eyes glowed up at her. She nodded weakly, unable to look away. He had beautiful eyes, brilliant and captivating, but they were strange, even a little frightening. They had scared her at first. They scared her now. Where there had been sly, cool speculation there was something impossibly warm and beautiful shining through. Her hands slid down to cup Sephiroth's cheeks. He turned his head to kiss her navel.

"Easy," he whispered, "Don't fight it." He bent his head even lower.

At the first whispery brush of lips against dark curls, Aeris went rigid. "Seph!"

"Shh," Sephiroth met her startled eyes. And when he kissed her, she thought she would die.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Aeris collapsed into a limp heap, almost weeping. The air was cool against her heated skin and she was uncomfortably moist in some places, but she really couldn't do anything about it. Just lying there was enough for now.

"Aeris." Sephiroth stayed where he was, resting his cheek against her inner thigh. "Are you all right?"

"Mmm," Aeris said. She couldn't find the strength to lift her head, or even open her eyes. "Mmm."

Sephiroth smiled and stroked her stomach. "Is that a good 'mmm' or a bad 'mmm'?"

"Mmm," Aeris said again, only this time it trailed off into a light laugh. She took a deep breath, then another. "Good," she said at last. "Kind of sudden, maybe."

"Sudden?"

Aeris finally uncurled her cramped fingers from Sephiroth's hair and gathered the breath to speak again. "It was… a lot… all at once."

Sephiroth made a low sound of pleasure. He slid Aeris' hand off his head and began idly nibbling at her fingertips. Aeris twitched slightly at the wetness on his lips.

She sat up as far as she was able and looked down at him. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Sephiroth glanced up at her and went back to sucking at her fingers. He seemed perfectly content.

"Don't you want to… ?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I can wait. You rest up."

"You sure?"

"I'm not some old man in danger of losing it, Aeris," Sephiroth laughed. "It'll still be there when you're ready to go again."

"Hmph, it better be."

Truthfully, Sephiroth thought he had better wait and let things cool off a bit because with the state he was in he risked completely embarrassing himself, but he was not about to tell Aeris that. He let her lie quietly as he moved her leg off his shoulder. Aeris pulled her hand away and tangled it in his hair again. Sephiroth closed his eyes and listen to her idle humming.

"Seph," Aeris mumbled after a while, "Come up here."

"But I'm comfortable down here."

Aeris pouted. "Can't you get comfy up here?"

"What's the matter? You don't like me down here?" Sephiroth turned his head to look at her and trailed his fingers up her leg. "Afraid I might get into some mischief?"

Aeris slumped back wearily to the ground. "I wanted to give you a hug but you're not getting it now."

Sephiroth laughed and crawled shakily up the length of her body. Aeris kept her arms folded and huffed grumpily at him, but her eyes told a different story. Sephiroth laughed again and slumped down on top of her. Aeris did not move so he nipped her neck and held her close. "So, about that hug. Can I get it now?"

"Maybe." Aeris held his face and studied him. Sephiroth did his best to look innocent. "I guess you can get one little hug." Sephiroth took it gladly and settled down in a tangle of limbs with her.

"I'm not crushing you, am I?" he asked.

"No." She answered sleepily and wriggled closer to him to prove it. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Aeris very gently nudged the firm bulge in his pants.

"Oh, that." Sephiroth frowned. "Well, I can wait, but it is a little uncomfortable. Uh, you don't mind if I…"

"No, no, go ahead." Aeris said quickly. Sephiroth rolled onto his back and undid his fly. All he intended to do was give himself a little breathing room, but Aeris was watching the proceedings far too intently for his comfort. She actually seemed disappointed when he pulled his hand away without doing anything more, even though she didn't say anything.

Sephiroth pulled her closer and stared up at the sky. The air was still cool and he considered pulling the rest of the covers over Aeris, but she seemed comfortable enough at his side.

She rolled over and rested her head on his shoulder. Sephiroth slipped his hand from her waist to her hip. There was a softness about a woman's curves that let her press tight against the unyielding planes of a man's body. Sephiroth supposed he had always known it somewhere in the back of his mind, but it was a doubly sweet thought now. He let himself relax and felt himself sink as far into the bedroll as he could. His feet stuck out beyond the edge and there were pebbles under his heels, but they were rounded from years of surf and made just the barest flicker on his consciousness.

Aeris propped herself up on her elbow and spoiled the cocoon Sephiroth was building around himself, but she settled down on his chest before he could protest the loss of warmth. Her lips were on him, light and moist and her fingers were moving down to his waist. Sephiroth considered responding, but he wanted to see what she would do on her own.

She started at his throat and Sephiroth instantly thought that it was what it must have felt like for her. It was warm and wet and _good_ but he felt so vulnerable and he could feel her teeth on his skin, right above his racing pulse. He shivered. Aeris took the hint and moved down to his collar bone.

Sephiroth stilled and let her do what she would. She was in no particular hurry. She leaned up once to kiss him quickly on the lips and went back to work on his chest. She teased his nipples with her teeth and her fingers traced the definition of his muscles, moving lower all the while. Sephiroth let her explore.

Aeris glanced up at him. The mischief in her smile gave him a turn. "Aer, what are you-?"

She pulled his pants open and giggled a little, more at the look of surprise on Sephiroth's face than anything else, but he could not help feeling that he had thoroughly corrupted an innocent. Now he was paying the price.

Aeris laid her cheek against his hip and began idly stroking him. Sephiroth moaned a little but his discomfort would not go away. He did not like the position he was in, flat on his back with someone else having complete control over him, even if it was his brand new darling love. "Aeris, please…" He tried to pull her away.

Aeris pouted at him. "Hey, you got to play with mine!"

Sephiroth sighed. "I suppose…"

Aeris grinned smugly and continued what she was doing. Sephiroth really hoped she would not start experimenting with her nails. "Hmm," she murmured. "Natural silver." Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Why did everybody always want to check that?

Aeris shifted a little on Sephiroth's thigh to get a better view. Sephiroth hissed. He was twitching uncontrollably in her grasp and he couldn't say he felt too happy about the naughty grin on her face, but he had asked her to trust him. It was only fair that he at least attempt to return that trust. Aeris glanced up at him and laughed.

Sephiroth frowned. "What's so funny?"

"You have a mole down here."

"Oh, yes. That." He looked away. "I'd almost forgotten about it."

"Pretty interesting place for a mole." Aeris laughed. "And it's a cute one too."

"If you think such things are cute," Sephiroth muttered and exhaled heavily. Aeris continued to pet him and his blood pulsed under her light touch. Sephiroth lay back, eyes closed and let Aeris continue to explore. She began to draw swirls that made his thighs quiver.

He opened his eyes again when he felt her make a strange sliding motion with her fingers. "Hey, are you measuring?" he screeched. Aeris drew back with a wicked grin. Sephiroth flopped backwards with a heavy sigh.

Aeris settled in with a soft sigh of her own and began to play with him again. Sephiroth said nothing, completely refusing to respond. Aeris supposed it was his version of sulking. She rolled her eyes and smoothed the fine silver curls out of the way as she pondered how to break the silence.

"Does it have a name?"

"WHAT?" Sephiroth sat up, eyes blazing.

Aeris tumbled into his lap. She blinked innocently up at him. "I was just wondering."

Sephiroth stared at her and rubbed his forehead. "Where would you get an idea like that?"

Aeris rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not some ignorant child, you know. I grew up just a stone's throw from Wall Market."

Sephiroth groaned. He sank back to the ground, flung an arm over his eyes and sighed. "Masamune-san."

"What?"

"Masamune-san. Like my sword. That's its name."

Aeris snickered and then burst right out laughing again. "Masa-, Masamune-san? Oh, man, you really couldn't be more original than that?"

"I didn't name it," Sephiroth grumbled sourly.

Aeris blinked. "Well, who did? Wait, wait, wait, don't tell me!" She raised an eyebrow at him in a way that set Sephiroth on edge. "Old girlfriend?"

He weighed his options as carefully as he could in the heartbeat that he had to do it. "Something like that." He drew back just the slightest bit but Aeris just kept laughing. He let out one breathy sigh.

Aeris pushed his shoulders lightly. He followed her urging and lay down again. Aeris curled up right where she was, resting her head against his hip so she could play.

"Well, hello there, Masamune-san," Aeris said sweetly. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Aeris!" Sephiroth protested. "Don't talk to it!"

"Why not?" Aeris' voice was all innocence but her eyes were something else.

"Because it's weird!"

"Aww," Aeris pouted again. "But he likes it. Don't you, Masamune-san?" And Masamune-san bounced under her touch like a happy puppy.

Sephiroth groaned and let his head flop back down. "Fine, woman. Suit yourself."

Aeris did exactly that, petting and stroking him as she had before. Sephiroth struggled to keep his breathing steady. Physically, everything was just fine, more than fine even but discomfort clawed at his mind. He was laid out this way of his own volition, but it was a vulnerable position nonetheless. He was exposed and helpless and he did not like that one bit.

Meanwhile, Masamune-san was having a whale of a time.

Sephiroth snorted lightly as the name crossed his mind again. "Damn that woman," he whispered.

"Hmm?" Aeris looked up at the sound.

"It's nothing."

Aeris smiled knowingly at him. "All right." Then she tried to swallow him whole.

"Ah!" Sephiroth sprang up in alarm yet again. "What are you doing?"

Aeris sat back, covering her lips. "Not… good?"

Sephiroth caressed her face. "You surprised me. You don't have to do that."

"But I want to." Aeris bent her head but Sephiroth could still see her cheeks flushing.

Somewhere far in the back of his head a voiced piped up. _"Quit your bitching, you jackass! You're getting a blowjob!" _

"All right, then," Sephiroth conceded. He leaned back, giving Aeris' head the slightest push downwards as he went.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He fought it. Every part of him that Aeris did not touch was fading from consciousness and his mind fought to remain aware. Aeris glanced up for a second. Sephiroth growled and pulled her off him.

"I need you now!" He sat up and roughly pulled Aeris into his lap. She leaned heavily against his chest and tried to move her hips into place. Sephiroth rocked upwards but couldn't steady himself enough for a smooth entry. He growled, then looked aside, breathing hard.

"Something wrong?"

"Just a second." Sephiroth leaned over to the pile of clothes and armor and fumbled around for something. Aeris had to latch on tight to his shoulders to keep her balance. Sephiroth straightened up with something tiny in his hand. "Just a second," he said again and began to struggle with it. "I need to get this thing open."

Aeris stared at the thin packet he held and blinked. The logo was unfamiliar but there was no mistaking the contents. "Seph," she whispered as absolute loathing rose up inside her.

"Almost got it." Sephiroth succeeded in tearing the foil open. Leviathan's reptilian grin split raggedly in two, but the swordsman only had a split-second to see the circle of rolled latex before it was knocked out of his grasp. "Aeris! That was the only one I had!"

Aeris grabbed his hair and pulled his head a bare inch away from her own. "One's not going to be enough tonight, so don't bother," she growled.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He collapsed on top of Aeris and lay there, limp and weak. Aeris murmured something he didn't understand and began to stroke his hair.

"Oh… hell," Sephiroth breathed without any real fire. It had ended sooner than he would have liked, but Aeris didn't seem to be complaining.

"Stay." She clutched his shoulders. Slowly he realized that the bedroll was almost ruined and that the fire had almost burned itself out. He had been fairly rough with Aeris and she was probably going to have bruises in interesting places but she seemed happy. He pulled himself up and tried to look at her past the tangled mess of fine hairs, his and hers, that stuck to his skin. She looked content enough at first glance but his senses had been blown open and there was more before him than what eyes could see.

Her skin was suffused with a rosy light. The fine points of energy that flowed within her pulsed with the beat he could feel in her chest. Sephiroth blinked the sight away. He had heard of women glowing after good sex but this was just bloody ridiculous. No way it could have been _that_ good.

"Aer?"

"What?"

"Am I crushing you?"

"No."

"Good." Sephiroth let his head droop to the ground. The wind seemed to be picking up a bit, or it could have just felt colder because his skin was flushed and slick.

A rustle on the sand caught his attention and he glanced down just in time to see the torn Leviathan condom wrapper go blowing by. The condom itself was stuck in the sand, getting grainy beyond redemption. Sephiroth exhaled hard. Even though he had never been sick a day in his life he could still be harboring something nasty and transmissible. And there were other possibilities…

Aeris poked him in the neck. "Stop worrying so much."

Sephiroth blinked. "How did you-?"

"You feel different when you worry,"

"I feel-?" Sephiroth stared down at Aeris but her gaze was far away.

"I can't really say how. You just do."

Sephiroth didn't know what to make of that but he supposed he wasn't the only one who lost control of finer senses at times like this. "Come on." He hiked Aeris up and tried to straighten the blanket beneath her. "Let's get comfortable."

"But I'm fine."

Sephiroth snorted. "Well, I'm getting cold." He pulled out of Aeris despite her grumbling about it and pulled the rest of the bedroll over them both.

"You can feel cold? I thought SOLDIERs were immune to that kind of thing."

"I'm less likely to die from it but I can still feel it." Sephiroth hitched his pants up into a more comfortable position with a slight grimace and let Aeris pillow her head on his arm, sinking quickly into lethargy himself. "It's like getting caught in the rain for a normal person. Being wet won't kill you, but being soaked through isn't comfortable."

Aeris idly traced patterns on his chest. "I don't know. There's never any rain below the plate. Once I got caught in a shower above and I thought it was wonderful. I stayed out in it till it passed."

Sephiroth stared at her. "You stood out in the rain in Midgar? I'm surprise your face didn't get burned off."

Aeris cocked her head at him. "I didn't feel anything strange. Besides, didn't you just say being wet wouldn't kill me?"

"That doesn't make it safe." Sephiroth brushed her hair back and held her head firmly so he could look right into her eyes. "Promise me you won't do that in Midgar again. Or anywhere else with a reactor for that matter."

Aeris blinked. "Okay, no more rain dance in Midgar," she said quietly. "You'd worry yourself to death, apparently."

Sephiroth pulled her closer so she could not see his face and let himself sink into the warmth, assured that she was safe as long as he held her. She sighed against his chest and kissed the skin softly while he played with her hair.

"Is the rain in Wutai safe?"

He threw a lazy glance up at the sky just in case, but it was a clear night. "It's fine. Nearly everything in Wutai is fine. It's about as far as you can get from Midgar, after all."

"Is that why you like it here?"

"It's one reason." Sephiroth kissed her hair to keep his mouth from blurting out the rest.

"It doesn't look the way I pictured it," she said quietly. The words took a while to breach his post-coital haze.

"How'd you picture it?" The words slurred slightly and he had the feeling that he might fall asleep soon if he wasn't careful.

"Well, war-torn, I suppose. But it's so green and peaceful."

"Hm, grass grows quickly." And blood was surprisingly good fertilizer.

"It's a beautiful place."

"It's not what it used to be."

"Makes sense." Aeris was close enough that every breath stirred Sephiroth's bangs. "War is war."

"Hmm, yes… very destructive… on both sides."

"You were really lucky then, weren't you?" Aeris continued. "All you lost here was a finger."

"And my virginity," Sephiroth mumbled. Aeris jerked and the thought slowly seeped into Sephiroth's sleepy brain that he had done something supremely stupid. He opened his eyes very slowly. "Said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." Aeris arched an eyebrow at him. "Care to tell me about it?"

Sephiroth blinked, fully alert now. His mouth wanted to move and part of him wanted to let it. He didn't have a very good track record of keeping his thoughts to himself around her anyway.

But this was different. He didn't think a flowergirl, even one from the Midgar slums, was ready for the kind of secrets he had to tell, even if he knew they would be safe with her. He opened his mouth to speak but the first word would not form.

Aeris put her hand on his cheek and smiled just a little. "It's okay. I understand if you don't want to."

Sephiroth closed his eyes. He turned his head to kiss her palm and couldn't stop. Aeris let him, stroking his hair and whispering soothing words he could not understand.

The twisting ache in his chest took its time fading, long enough for him to become aware of little things again, like the fact that the hole he had torn in the blanket had ended up on his side of the bedroll, which explained why there was a distinct breeze blowing over his bare backside. It was worth it though, so worth it to be near her.

He tried to push the feeling aside but it refused to move. It was an untouchable thing inside him and he didn't have the slightest idea of how to deal with such a foe. Anytime he tried to clear his thoughts and shoo that warm, fuzzy _love _away, it simply flowed around and settled in other parts of his head. Maybe, maybe if he had fully wanted it gone he could have driven it away and retained some semblance of sensibility, but whichever part of his mind it had chosen to take root in liked having it there.

"_Quit fighting it! You're happy, aren't you?" _The voice came at him from somewhere deep, where Mother used to be. She had been sounding more tired and resigned lately. Maybe she had grown tired of his willfulness and finally left him. Sephiroth wondered why he was not especially sorry that she had gone. He wished he could place the faint newcomer. The voice seemed familiar.

And it had a point, he supposed. Ayame had said nearly the same thing to him earlier. Why fight happiness? Just accept it and enjoy it for what it was while it was yours. Love was not supposed to be something to fear, even for big, bad soldiers with reputations to uphold.

Sephiroth buried his face against the top of Aeris' head. It was all still faintly embarrassing. He just knew he had been making a damned fool of himself. Aeris didn't seem to mind and there hadn't been anyone else around but Mother and Ayame to see. Sephiroth wondered how the woman had dealt with it, with the long years of pining over a first love who would never return the feeling.

"Thinking hard?" Aeris nudged his chest with her nose.

Sephiroth looked down. "You can feel that too?"

"I can feel a lot of things," she said off-handedly. Sephiroth concentrated on a fold in the blanket and hoped he wasn't thinking too loudly about whether or not she could read his mind.

"Yes, I can," she said.

Sephiroth nearly flew out of his skin. "You can?"

Her nose wrinkled and she burst out laughing at him. "No, I can't. I was just saying that in case that's what you were wondering." She tweaked his nose and looked him in the eye. "Guess I was right."

"Let go of my nose," he said sourly.

"Sure thing, Mr. Grumpy." Aeris leaned back in his loose embrace. "Care to tell me what you're chewing over so hard?"

Sephiroth made a non-committal sound and pulled her in closer. "Aeris," he began, his voice raspy. "I'm… I was your first, wasn't I?" He actually felt her face grow warmer against his shoulder.

"Yeah, you are."

"How come? I mean, you're a nice girl and you're old enough. Wasn't anyone else interested before?"

Aeris shrugged. "People were interested. Didn't mean I was interested back."

"You never considered it with anyone?"

The woman's eyes fell and Sephiroth found himself staring at her eyelashes while he waited for an answer.

"There was somebody, years ago. My Mom didn't really approve of him and she kept me on a tight leash because she said I was too young but I liked him… a lot. We never got really far." Aeris glanced up at Sephiroth and looked away just as quickly.

"What happened?" Sephiroth coaxed gently.

"I don't know," Aeris whispered. "He left for work one day and never made his way back." Her voice was close to breaking though her eyes were dry.

"And you didn't look for anyone else after that?"

"No." Her head moved just a fraction against his chest. "There didn't seem to be any point to it."

Love hurts, Sephiroth had heard, it hurts bad. Love gone wrong, it's a crippling blow. His arms tightened around Aeris and he found himself wishing he had more than idle talk and greeting card platitudes to go by. He sure as hell didn't have much in the way of experience.

He sighed heavily, mussing Aeris' hair. The slight upward tilt of her head was enough for him to gauge her concern. He swallowed. "Aeris… with this someone… how far did you get?"

"That's what you've got on your mind?" Aeris thumped her head against Sephiroth's breastbone. He thought he caught some comment about marking territory. She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "We didn't do anything like this, if that's what you're thinking. We'd planned to, but I didn't really feel ready and by the time I did he was gone."

Sephiroth smirked into her hair, unable to keep himself from gloating at winning the prize, even if it had been by blind chance. _"Yeah,"_ the voice in his head put in bitterly. "_Worked out real well for you, didn't it?"_

"_Shut up!" _Sephiroth shoved the annoying little voice away, but was puzzled by it. "Aeris, if you felt ready with him, why did you take a while with me?"

"Hey, the first time's a big decision for a girl," she said with a playful little shove to his chest. "Just because I was comfortable with him doesn't mean I was ready for just anybody. You're a completely different situation all by yourself. I had to get used to you first."

Sephiroth looked himself over. "Ah, yes, I see," he murmured, "I suppose I am rather intimidating in certain respects."

"Why, you-!" Aeris could not even finish the sentence and settled for smacking him hard on his shoulder and any body part she could reach, sputtering things like 'egotistical' and 'narcissistic'.

"Hey!" Sephiroth flinched at the first stinging slap and grabbed her flailing wrists. "Young lady, if you want to keep beating me up like this, I'm going to have to insist you get yourself a leather corset and a whip so you can do it properly!"

Shock gave way to slit-eyed certainty. "Oh, I can manage that."

A chill that had nothing to do with the hole in the blanket ran straight up Sephiroth's spine. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the errant little voice advised him to shut his big yap and stop giving the woman ideas. Sephiroth gave the voice another shove and pulled Aeris closer, pressing skin to skin along the entire length of her body.

Aeris settled in with a satisfied smile. Sephiroth stroked her gently, lulling them both with the motion.

"Are you dozing off already?" Aeris looked up at him.

Sephiroth blinked. "I was asleep? How long?"

"Not too long. Just minutes." Aeris' mouth twisted a little. Sephiroth tried to soothe it back into its normal tiny smile with his thumb. Aeris snapped and caught his thumb between her teeth.

"Hmph, are you hungry?" Sephiroth asked, half-joking but then Aeris gave him a look that told him she was. "Don't worry," he said, propping himself up. "I brought you something. But I'll need you to give me my thumb back so I can get it."

Aeris released him after a firm nibble. "Did you hunt down something on the beach?"

"Not exactly." Sephiroth leaned over, careful not to pull the covers away as he scooped up the cloth-wrapped package under his coat. "For you."

Aeris sat up and stared at the box in front of her. "What is it?"

"Open it and see."

"Something edible, right?" Aeris took the box and shook it carefully, listening. There was a very light rattle. She set the package down on lap and worked at the knot. Sephiroth sat back a bit. He could not help staring. It did not escape Aeris' notice.

"Seph, are you watching me unwrap this thing or are you just staring at my boobs?"

Sephiroth did not even blink. "You're getting your something to nibble on. I want mine."

"Oh, you'll get yours." Aeris removed the lid. "Oh! You got me those flower sweet things! Where'd you-?"

"I have ways." Sephiroth winked. "Eat up."

Aeris' hand hovered over the small selection. "I can't. They're too pretty!"

"Hmph." Sephiroth shuffled in closer, securing the covers around his hips. He picked up one sweet up at random and held it to Aeris' lips and laughed a little at how she tried to wrinkle her nose out of the way to see which one it was.

"It's a cherry blossom," he informed her and wondered why the way she locked eyes with him as she took a bite left him breathless. He fed her another bite but Aeris shoved him away when he moved in for the third.

"I have to chew, you know."

"Sorry." Sephiroth set the uneaten portion back in the box and sent a spark to rekindle the fire. There wasn't much left to burn so he levitated a handful of spare twigs into the pile and set about gathering more without ever moving from his seat.

"Wow," Aeris murmured, "you make that look so easy."

"I've had lots of practice." Sephiroth glanced over. "Want to learn?"

"Not now. Eating." Aeris' eyes wore her smile as she finished up the sweet.

"Hmph!" Sephiroth plucked a stick out of midair as it passed by and poked randomly at the fire. "She's got me doing all the heavy labor _and_ bringing her dinner too." He idly wondered why he did not mind putting up with it.

"_Must be love." _

If the fire had been alive, Sephiroth would have killed it with his stick. _"Didn't I tell you to go away?"_

"_Yeah, but I couldn't do that and leave you all by your lonesome. You'd miss me."_

"_Not as long as I have her."_

"_Yeah, you have her. Lucky bastard."_

"You okay?" Aeris asked. "You seem a little tense." She scooted over to close the gap between them and picked a sweet out of the box. "Here, have a bite."

Sephiroth flinched away from the thing. He hadn't eaten anything in such a long time and he wasn't sure he should start now. There still had not been any sign of the tea he had drunk earlier. Sephiroth glanced down at himself and hoped his gut was in working order.

Aeris' face fell. "Don't you want to eat with me?" Her pleading eyes seemed larger and brighter than before in the firelight. She was beautiful and so forlorn.

Sephiroth wordlessly opened his mouth and let her feed him. She took a bite herself afterwards and chewed with a look of smug satisfaction.

"_She's working you over big time, soldier," _the voice said._ "About time someone did." _Sephiroth was too caught up in worrying about his digestive functions to make a snappy reply.

"I'm thirsty," Aeris said suddenly and distracted Sephiroth most effectively by leaning across his lap to get to her bag. "I've got something in here. I'm not sure I should drink it though."

She sat up again, hoisting the bag onto the spot in front of her and causing Sephiroth to mourn the loss of soft breasts pressing against his skin. She opened the bag and reached inside, completely oblivious to his pain.

"Here it is." She pulled out what appeared to be a bottle of Wutanese rice wine. Her half-empty bag collapsed in on itself.

Sephiroth took the bottle by the neck and studied the label. "Where'd you get this?"

"Somebody gave it to me."

Sephiroth set the bottle down very deliberately. "Somebody who was trying to… impress you?"

Aeris blinked. "I don't think so. What, is something wrong with it?"

"Your _somebody_ really sprang for the good stuff." Sephiroth stared into the fire and tried not to think about who it could have been.

Aeris gave him a little nudge with her shoulder. "It wasn't like that. Besides, I don't know anything about Wutanese liquor. Any attempt to impress me with the selection wouldn't go anywhere."

Sephiroth stared down at the bottle and considered it. He sighed and cradled the bottle in one arm, rubbing it lightly with his free hand.

"What are you doing?" Aeris looked over his arm and snickered. "It's not a baby."

"I'm warming it. Just a slight variation on a fire spell."

"Oh."

When Sephiroth judged the sake to be warm enough, he passed the bottle to Aeris with an excess of dignity. "Your drink, my lady."

Aeris laughed and took the bottle. She gave her lover a sidelong glance as she got ready to drink. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind having you for a butler." She took one good sip and sat back gasping.

Sephiroth rubbed her back. "You okay?"

Aeris nodded. "Yeah, just wasn't ready for it." She passed the bottle back to Sephiroth. "I don't think I'll be chugging that in a hurry. You can have the rest."

The swordsman stared down at the bottle. "Maybe later," he said and set it gingerly aside. As an afterthought, he used a weak spell to shape an ice bucket around the thing.

"Showoff." Aeris yawned and leaned against his side, tucking the folds of the bedroll in around her. Sephiroth pulled her in close. "Could you put this back with my clothes, please?" Aeris scooped her hollowed backpack up and held it in front of Sephiroth. He took it without thinking but did not put it back in its place immediately.

"What else do you have hiding in here?" He opened it up and peered in.

"Nothing that's any of your business." Aeris gave him a shove but made no move to snatch the bag away. Sephiroth took it as implicit permission to look all he pleased.

"Ah, a hairbrush, of course, and a change of underwear." Sephiroth jostled the bag to see what else was in there. "There's nothing fragile in here, I hope." Aeris shook her head. "Potions and ointments all strapped in place, good," the man continued to list, avoiding mention of the feminine products tucked away in one of the large inner pockets. "Oh, what's this?" He reached in to get something. "I didn't think you were the type to keep trash in your purse, Aeris."

"It's not a purse and if I do keep trash in it, it's only because I don't care to be messing up the Planet."

"I see," Sephiroth replied, though he didn't seem to think much of such noble motives. He pulled a small, worn scrap of paper out. "What is this?"

Aeris started. "Oh, that."

Sephiroth unfolded the tiny square and read the few words written there. He folded the note up quickly and looked away. "I can't believe you kept that thing."

"Why shouldn't I? It was so sweet of you."

"It's outright sap you can find in any two-gil paperback."

"I know," Aeris said. "But I still thought it was very sweet of you then."

Sephiroth snorted. "_I_ think it's very embarrassing now."

"And that makes it even sweeter." Aeris sighed contentedly and plucked the note out of Sephiroth's hand before he could think about tossing it into the fire.

Sephiroth tightened his grip too late and made an exasperated sound. "What's so sweet about tripe like that?'

Aeris rolled her eyes. "Please, Seph, that note's hardly long enough to reach tripe status. And what's cute about it is that you'd do something like that for me even though it's making you blush right now."

Sephiroth glared. "I'm not blushing. It's the fire."

"Right." Aeris nuzzled his arm. "You're absolutely adorable when you're embarrassed like this."

"I think _you_ ought to be embarrassed for hanging on to it for so long."

"Yeah, but you're the one who actually wrote it."

"Don't remind me." Sephiroth hunched down, thoroughly defeated. Aeris sighed and took the bag out of his slack grasp to rearrange everything neatly inside. A soft glow caught Sephiroth's eye. "What's that?"

"Hmm?"

"That bright thing there." Sephiroth bent over the bag. Inside, nestled in one of the cups of a clean brassiere, was something resembling materia, but it was no materia Sephiroth had ever seen before.

Aeris hesitated a little, then delicately drew the thing out, cradling it in both hands as if it were an injured bird. "It was my mother's," she said quietly. A pure white glow streamed between her fingers to light her face. "My birth mother's."

Sephiroth wondered where his own mother had gone. He reached to touch the small sphere but something made him draw back. There was too much light inside it, not so much shining out but trapped within. His hands still looked like inky blackness against the glow of life. "Is it… materia?"

"It is." Aeris nodded. "It doesn't actually do anything."

"All materia does something," Sephiroth said, wondering what materia with as much energy as the Planet in it would do. He could not begin to imagine. The thing was _white._

"This one doesn't do anything at all." Aeris sighed. "But still, it was my mother's so I always keep it with me."

"In your bra?"

"No!" Aeris clutched the materia to her chest and fixed Sephiroth with a look. "That's only when I take the ribbon out of my hair."

"I was just asking," Sephiroth said, holding both hands up in surrender.

Aeris' look softened. She cradled the materia for a moment longer then tucked it back into its hiding space. "It's properly protected this way," she explained, unable to meet Sephiroth's eyes. "I really should put it somewhere that it won't get mixed up with all the other things." She started feeling around for a spare compartment but most of them were already full of salves and remedies. "Nuts," Aeris muttered as pocket after pocket turned out to be too full to take materia.

"What's this?" Sephiroth poked at a scrap of black lace sticking out of one of the open pockets. He smirked. "Well, that's certainly an exquisite little handkerchief." He pulled it out, ready to tease Aeris about her girly, pretty things until he realized that it wasn't a handkerchief at all. He held it up with both hands to be sure he was seeing correctly. "Oh…" He blinked at the sheer, lace-edged thing. "If you were so concerned about your underwear not being cute before, why didn't you wear this for me instead?"

"Uh, Seph," Aeris began shakily, "that's not mine."

Sephiroth put a fantasy that involved Aeris wearing skimpy black lace lingerie on hold. "If it's not yours, why do you have it?"

Aeris nibbled her lower lip. "It belongs to a friend of mine," she began slowly, measuring every word, "who, uh, doesn't want it anymore, but I thought it was too important as a keepsake to toss out… So I'm keeping it in case my friend… decides otherwise."

Sephiroth frowned, wondering exactly what she meant by that. Bit by bit, the pieces began to come together, the caked-on feel of thick makeup, a hint of cheap cologne, the outright humiliation that was not his own.

"_Spike's got great taste in underwear. Who'd have thunk?"_

Sephiroth did not even have the wherewithal to tell the voice to shut the hell up. His hands made themselves busy, folding the thing into a neat little square while his mind tried to catch up. "Here," he said quietly, passing it to Aeris. She took it without a word and tucked it away again. Sephiroth took the bag from her and began to repack everything, removing and rearranging to make more efficient use of space. He worked silently, concentrating very hard in an attempt to push the altered image of his fantasy out of his mind.

"They teach you how to do that in the army, right?" Aeris asked.

"Fold underwear into squares?" Sephiroth blurted out, mouth miles ahead of his brain.

Aeris laughed. "I meant pack properly."

"Uh, yes," the man mumbled.

"_Come on, Sephy, get it together,"_ the voice coaxed. _"It's not that big a deal."_

"_Yes, it is!"_ Sephiroth snapped, jamming an elixir into place. _"I _touched_ it!"_

"_So wash your hands. It was most likely clean anyway. I don't think she's the type to hike across the world lugging somebody else's dirty drawers." _The voice sighed._ "She might hang on to yours though, all things considered." _

"_I don't wear underwear." _

"_Why exactly is that, Seph?" _

Sephiroth refused to answer. He did up all the zippers and buckles and set the bag down neatly near the pile of folding clothes. He glanced at the heap for a second. Aeris' dress was showing a hint of dampness where the runoff from his makeshift ice bucket had touched it. Sephiroth rearranged that too, then sat with his arms around his knees, staring at the ocean.

"Aeris," he said, "promise me you'll never make me wear a dress."

Aeris burst out laughing. "Don't worry about that. You're not built to pull it off. Too broad." She leaned over took his face in both hands. "Your face is pretty enough, though. A little mascara, some lipstick…"

Sephiroth reared back, eyes wide. "You are not dressing me up like some dolly, Aeris."

Aeris snickered. "Okay, okay, but I wouldn't mind _un_dressing you right now."

Sephiroth looked down. "Hm, I suppose I am overdressed for the occasion." He maneuvered gracefully under the covers and slid his pants off.

Aeris hugged her knees to her chest and watched. "Much better."

That cheered Sephiroth up a bit. He leaned back on his hands and let the blanket slip away. "At your service, my Lady."

"I like that," she replied and kissed him. Sephiroth knew exactly how to give Aeris the attention she liked best by now and she was not shy about receiving it. She was bolder herself, almost feverishly staking her claim on him with growls and bites. She had gotten quickly accustomed to being his lover.

The problem was that maybe she was getting too used to it. Sephiroth huffed. It was very nice to have a lover who knew the ropes but part of him twitched at the thought that he was not pleasuring her in quite the same way as before.

"What's wrong?" Aeris noticed his dismay right away.

Sephiroth frowned, slowing down just a little bit more. "You're getting bored with this, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not," Aeris said.

"Yes, you are," Sephiroth grumbled, "Look at you, you're going to start yawning any minute."

"I'm not getting bored, Sephiroth."

"Well, you're getting too used to things."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Aeris asked, breathing a bit harsher between words. "I mean, the first time was great, yeah, but I had no idea what to expect. I kept wondering where to put my legs and what to do with my hands. And then you had to just walk out the next morning."

Sephiroth ignored her glare. "And the time after that?"

"Oh, hey, that was amazing but still, I didn't need all those bruises afterwards!"

"Look, if I'm not meeting your expectations, it's perfectly fine to say so. I can't fix a problem I don't know about."

"It's not a problem, Seph," Aeris grated.

"Of course it is! Do you really think I'm going to be satisfied if you're just lying there putting up with it? The fact that you're coherent enough to carry on a conversation in the middle of _this_..."

Aeris rolled her eyes at him. "I'll stay quiet if your ego can't take the bruising."

Sephiroth leaned in. "Oh, no, you don't, woman," he murmured, his voice low, "I'm not out of tricks yet." He wrapped his arms tight around her, eyes glowing bright.

Aeris felt the blanket slide away and the sudden downward urging of her entire body. She glanced around, uncomprehending. They were a foot off the ground and still rising. "Hey, what the- SEPH! Are you insane? Put me down!"

"In a while, dear, when we're finished." He adjusted his grip and increased the speed of ascent, grinning darkly when Aeris shrieked and wrapped her legs around him.

"Finished what, you loony? We can't do this in midair!"

"Oh?" Sephiroth smirked at her. "Says who?" There was definite satisfaction in watching Aeris sputter in outrage. The death grip she had on his shoulders was probably the only thing keeping her from taking a swing at him. She groaned and shut her eyes tight. Her breathing was quick and shallow.

Sephiroth slowed down. "Aeris, it's okay. I won't drop you, I promise." She did not move. Sephiroth halted where he was, hovering high above the sands. He made sure his grip on her was firm, then tilted backwards, curling himself slightly to give his lover a lap to sit on. He came to rest at an angle that put him between her and the ground. "Come on, Aeris, it's going to be all right."

Aeris could not help leaning heavily against him. Her hair slid across her shoulders to blanket them both. Sephiroth petted her back gently with one hand, forcing himself to be still inside her.

"All right, Aeris, I'll admit it, this is a bit much." Sephiroth glanced down at her, but she still had her eyes closed and there was no indication that she had heard him. He sighed and stared at the lights below them. The capital lay spread out like a child's play village.

"You know," Sephiroth began, trying a different tack, "Wutai has very old laws on the books prohibiting certain kinds of behavior in public places. We certainly can't do this on Da Chao Mountain." He waited patiently.

"Hmph," Aeris said after a while, "Can't or shouldn't?"

Sephiroth smiled a little. "Both. If the authorities don't get you the fire in the caves will." Aeris made a noncommittal sound. Sephiroth dredged his memory for more. "There are definite prohibitions on the grounds surrounding the Pagoda. It's illegal for women to do this under bridges. But just fine for men though."

"Hmph." Aeris nuzzled in closer to Sephiroth. "This is still crazy, you know."

"There's no law against coupling in midair."

Aeris snorted. "There's the law of gravity."

"Ah, yes, that. A minor inconvenience." Sephiroth gave her a little squeeze. "Want to give it a go?"

Aeris glared. "_You're_ crazy."

"That's a distinct possibility."

Aeris narrowed her eyes at him. "You do realize that the only reason I haven't smacked some sense into you yet is that if I let go, I'll fall."

"I figured as much."

She exhaled hard, leaning in to rest her cheek against his shoulder. "It is pretty up here," she said finally. Sephiroth ran his fingers lightly over what skin he could reach, still daring to hope. Aeris' fingers tangled in the fine hairs at his neck. "What if somebody sees us?"

Sephiroth pressed his head against hers and grinned. "Tell you what. If anyone complains, we'll take it out over international waters." Then all Sephiroth could think about was her teeth on his neck and her hair tangling around his arms and what her hands were doing at that very sensitive spot between his shoulders. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged her head back so he could get to her mouth.

She collapsed against his chest and lay shivering in his arms, her body quivering around him still. Sephiroth gasped sharply and threw his head back, seeing the night sky and then nothing at all.

There was a moment in the darkness when it seemed that the stars themselves were screaming down at him. **"WAKE UP!"**

Sephiroth opened his eyes to find himself plummeting to the ground with Aeris in his arms. He gathered himself quickly and halted the fall with such a crude use of force that a ring of sand blasted out around them and spread across the beach, smothering the fire as it went. Sephiroth hit the ground hard, automatically cradling Aeris to his chest.

"Aeris," he rasped, "are you okay?" A slight murmur was her only response, but she seemed unharmed, curling up against him for warmth. "Good," Sephiroth said and promptly passed out again.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix. No profit is sought from this work. All original characters and elements are my own.

**Note: **This chapter is slightly edited for content, but you're not missing much. Full version at LJ.

**Path of Seduction **

**Chapter Twenty Seven. **

"What the hell was he thinking?" Adrean hung on to the railing in a last ditch attempt to keep from falling flat out on the bridge. It was no use. His arm slipped free and he fell back, rattling the wood with his landing. He groaned and stretched himself out to lie on his back and sighed up at the night sky. "In midair. It's not right."

He was silent for a while, his attention far away. "Yes, I am grateful for your help but my head hurts right now. It's been a while since I had to do anything like that." He flinched a little. "I didn't drink that much." He struggled to sit up and failed. All he could do was lie still and try to block out the voices hammering against his already hurting head. He glanced sideways at the river and briefly considered taking a little roll off the bridge. The water would probably do him some good. Then he remembered that he was in no condition to be swimming. He turned his head and attention away from the water.

"Why, no, as a matter of fact, I don't think the whole thing was romantic. I think it's crazy." He listened for a moment, then sighed. "Look, he's welcome to try any kind of kink he wants just so long as he doesn't break her neck doing it. Other than that, it's really no business of mine. Or yours, for that matter."

What he heard next made him curl up and cover his ears. "Degenerates!"

"Doc," someone called from the end of the bridge. "You been drinking again?"

Adrean blinked. "Not that much," he said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Who's that with you, Yuki?"

The young man blinked and glanced at the girl hanging somewhat unsteadily off his arm. "A friend."

"Oh, a friend. I see," Adrean drawled, his voice dripping honey.

Yuki sighed, his eyes seeking Da Chao for strength as he awaited the inevitable. It did not come. "Aren't you going to say, 'I told you so' or something?"

"Why bother? You already know I'm thinking it." Adrean grinned and his head lolled back against a post. "You know, you're far too sour for someone with a pretty girl on his arm."

Yuki shrugged. "Old habits are hard to break."

"This a friend o' yours, Yuki?" Yuffie tipped forward as she asked and Yuki was forced to grab hold of her waist to keep her from falling. Just as quickly, he snatched his hands back and put them somewhere proper. He caught Adrean's smirk and answered it with a scowl, daring the healer to comment.

"Whatcha doin' there, stranger?" Yuffie hopped from one foot to another. "Yuki, what's he doing?"

"He's the troupe healer," Yuki replied. "He likes to watch the stars on clear nights."

"Really?" Yuffie bounced once and bounded across the bridge before Yuki could stop her. "Can you read my fortune? What's my horoscope say for tomorrow?"

"What?" Adrean blinked up at her.

Yuki caught the girl's hand and patted it a little to try to make her calm down. "I don't think he does that kind of thing, Yuffie."

"Aw, man." Yuffie slumped and pouted at the man sitting against the rail. "So you can't read my future?"

"Afraid not, princess. There's no future up there," Adrean said slowly, looking past her head to the skies above. "There's nothing up there but the distant past." He winced a little and slouched further down onto the bridge. His hand twitched, reaching for the bottle that he knew was nearby. Questing fingers only knocked the thing over. It rolled over the wooden bridge with the resonance of hollow glass and came to an abrupt stop in the gap between two planks.

"Adrean," Yuki said, " I thought you said you hadn't been drinking that much."

"I haven't," the healer said, his attention distant.

"Right. Can you stand?"

Adrean frowned and did not seem to make much effort. He glanced up at Yuki. "Maybe if you help me up."

Yuki nodded and sighed and offered the man a hand. "Come on, doc, I'll walk you home."

The healer nodded and stared towards the edge of town for a while before following meekly. He walked two steps behind the young couple and threw Yuki a little smirk every time the boy glanced back to be sure he was still there.

Yuffie clung tight to her betrothed's arm and hummed something completely tuneless as she walked. The space between them veered on indecent. The boy considered himself lucky that there were not too many people on the streets to see it. If word got back to Yuffie's father, or worse, Yuki's mother…

"Apothecary shop's that way, Yuki," Adrean reminded him. Yuki turned, giving Yuffie a gentle tug to lead her along.

"Whee!" Yuffie could not stop herself in time and ended up plastered to Yuki's side. "This is fun, Snow-boy!" Yuki stiffened.

"Aren't you going to put your arm around her, Yuki?" Adrean called out.

"She's had too much to drink," Yuki said, easing Yuffie onto her own two feet. "I'm not going to do anything that will get me into trouble when she sobers up."

"I don't think you'd get into trouble." Adrean picked up the pace to walk alongside the boy. "In fact, judging from the way she's snuggling against your shoulder, I think she wants you to."

"She's drunk, Adrean." Yuki glanced sidelong at the man as he tried to peel Yuffie off. "What she thinks she wants is highly suspect. And so's your advice because you've been drinking too."

"Not that much," Adrean insisted, walking ahead a little as they neared the shop. He stopped at the narrow side entrance and rooted around in his pockets for the keys to the little back room he rented. "You can't play it safe all the time, Yuki," he said, testing the keys in the lock. "Take a chance now and then."

"Says the man who won't quit lecturing me on proper prophylactic use."

"That's different." Adrean finally got the creaky door open. "Speaking of which, you do have-?"

"Yes, Doc!" Yuki turned and took Yuffie firmly by the hand. The girl was fidgeting around, smiling up at nothing, lost in a world of her own. Yuki looked back over his shoulder and met Adrean's eyes. "I'm taking her home now."

"You two mind your step," was all Adrean said as he retreated halfway into the shadow of the doorway. The tension Yuki had not even felt building slid away. He nodded once to the healer and began to walk, leading Yuffie gently along.

"Bye, doc!" She spun backwards and gave Adrean a little wave as they walked. The man laughed and waved back, watching them go.

"Yes," Adrean murmured as the young people turned the corner. "Taking chances is good, within reason. It comes down to how much a person's willing to risk." He leaned back against the doorjamb and tilted his head upwards. "Well, a slap on the cheek for moving too fast isn't anywhere as bad as shattered vertebrae."

He stood still for a long while, listening hard although the sound of footsteps had long faded. Eventually he straightened up, sighing in exasperation at the heavens. "Look, you all can hash it out however you please. I'm going to bed."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Yuffie?" Yuki asked, sighing lightly, "You do this often?"

"Do what, Yuki?" Yuffie bounced at his side and stumbled, ending up against the boy's side again.

"Get drunk," the boy murmured and did his best to straighten her up.

"I'm not drunk!" Yuffie shouted.

"You're not sober."

Yuffie sniffed. "I can hold a lot more than I did back there."

Yuki frowned and looked straight ahead, considering that he should have paid more attention to how fast the girl chugged her sake back at the bar. She wasn't drunk outright. She was still making a certain amount of sense, but she was prancing about just this side of uninhibited.

Or maybe she was like this all the time. Yuki had to admit he knew more about Yuffie's family background than he did about her. He shoved his free hand deep into his pocket and thought it over. Yuffie took advantage of his distraction and slipped her hand out of his grasp to go skipping back and forth along the street.

"Careful, Yuffie!" Yuki warned. "We still have a long way to go."

"Nuh-uh," Yuffie skipped closer. "I don't live with my father. I got m'own place."

"You do?" Yuki watched her go, wondering where she found the energy for it after the day she'd had.

"Yeah, it's closer to town. That's it." Yuffie pointed to a rather large rock.

Yuki looked at the closest building. "Uh, near the cat lady?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Kitazawa," Yuffie said, skipping dangerously close to the edge of one of Wutai's many rivers. "Used to belong to my mother's family. Nobody was using it so I made it the bachelorette pad." She skipped over the bank and into the shallow water.

"Careful!" Yuki lunged and yanked her back. "The bridge is that way." He put an arm around her to keep her from falling and marched doggedly onwards, brow set. Between the healer, the troupe and now the Lady Yuffie, he figured he was going to spend much of his life hauling drunks home. "If things work out like they've been planned," he said, glancing down at her, "I'll be making sure you don't hit the sauce so hard from now on."

Yuffie became a dead weight in his arm, rigid and refusing to move. She turned her face up and shot a withering look somewhere beyond his left ear. "Listen up, hubby," she snarled, "you're not gonna order me around."

Yuki fought the urge to step back. Something set him quivering right down to his toes. "I won't," he said slowly, "but I will take care of you."

Yuffie's eyes went wide. "You will?"

"Of course." Yuki nodded. "Wutai needs you strong and capable, not passed out drunk and drowning in a gutter."

"Oh." Yuffie seemed to shrink into herself. She blew upwards to get the hair out of her eyes. The boy reared back slightly from the alcohol on her breath. Yuffie grabbed his hand and yanked him along, crossing the bridge in silence.

"Careful," he said again as Yuffie stumbled against her own door.

"This is my place," she said, waving off his concern. "It's not very big. The guys are staying at my father's house but my girlfriends should be here if you want to come in and meet 'em." She knocked and waited and knocked again. Then she began fishing around in her pockets for the key. "Bet I get it open before they do," she mumbled and shoved the key into the lock on the first try. She either knew her house very well or she wasn't as drunk as she seemed to be, Yuki surmised. Either that or it was dumb luck.

She swung the door open and leaned forward, rising to the tip of her toes to peer into the dark. "Huh. Nobody's home. Wonder where they went?" She spun halfway around in the doorway and stretched back against the frame. "Wanna come in anyway?"

Yuki glanced around for signs of nosy neighbors. "I'd better go. Walking is one thing but some people wouldn't consider it proper for me to stay at this hour." He turned to go.

"Proper nothing!" Yuffie fumed. "We're getting married!"

Yuki laughed. "We're not married yet."

"Aww," Yuffie whined and stumbled forward to reach him. "Can't you come in for just a little while? I've got lots of mater-."

"Careful!" Yuki caught her as she fell, staggering back slightly from the impact.

Yuffie tilted her head back up from where she had landed, face in Yuki's stomach, arms around his waist. Her eyes were wide and unusually shiny. "Just a little while? I have something special to show you."

Yuki's brain chose that moment to short itself out. He stood there awkwardly balanced, his arms hovering over Yuffie's shoulders. He had no idea how to begin prying her off. Yuffie solved the problem for him, hiking herself up using his body for support.

Yuki almost whimpered. His brain kicked back in, racing full speed ahead to make up for the lapse. He knew what she was saying couldn't be what she meant and even if it was he could not trust her judgment if she was under the influence. He would just have to pay no attention at all to their proximity and her shiny eyes and he really had to get her off him somehow. It could not be too hard. She wasn't very big. No, her body was very athletic, actually, very lean and trim, but there were still curves and some of those curves were pressing against him in all the right ways and didn't he remember that he wasn't supposed to be paying attention to that right now but Leviathan help him, he was only seventeen and it didn't help that there was a voice echoing inside his head, telling him to take a chance.

"Just a little while, Yuki," Yuffie whispered, her lips just inches from his own. Yuki sent a hurried prayer to Leviathan for the strength to do the right thing and almost collapsed with hysterical laughter when he realized that under the circumstances, calling on a giant water-spewing snake to intercede probably wasn't the wisest course of action.

Yuffie leaned backwards, pulling him with her. "Come on, Yuki."

"Ah, okay." Yuki followed. What could he do? He was only seventeen.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The door swung open with the lightest touch, welcoming Sephiroth inside. He walked slowly into the darkness, not needing light to see. The living room was empty but there were signs of life. A warm woolen throw rug lay rumpled from use across one arm of the sofa. Fresh flowers, closed for the night, adorned every flat surface. A book lay face-down on the floor near a scattering of cushions that must have served as a make-shift bed, abandoned for more suitable comforts with nightfall.

Sephiroth walked along, barely feeling his feet sink into the carpet. He headed unerringly to the kitchen. It was dark there too and tidied up for the night. The dinner dishes were arranged neatly in the rack by the sink, gleaming with light from the window. Sephiroth glided to the staircase in a haze. The wooden railing felt familiar. The entire house seemed warm despite the stillness.

He floated up the stairs, pausing to retrieve a stray item near his feet. It was a small plush animal of some sort. Sephiroth flopped the worn little thing around in his hands as he made his way up. It was rather tatty. The color had faded a bit and someone had put neat, loving stitches on one ear.

Without ever questioning how he knew where to go, Sephiroth drifted to the door at the end of the hall. There was a large bed there and from the shape of the thick covers, there was someone in it. Sephiroth went to the far side of the bed, surprised only at how calmly he was taking this. He had never really cared to share his sleeping space and this was his bed, in his house, never mind that he could not recall ever being there before.

Aeris was lying there, as he had half-expected. She was all bundled up in the middle, sleeping soundly with the covers wrapped tight around her shoulders and her hair trailing across the pillow. She was beautiful in the stillness. Sephiroth smiled and tugged at the covers to join her.

The raised sheets revealed that Aeris cradled a doll in her arms. Sephiroth wondered why a grown woman would still sleep with a toy. It was a rather large one too, about the size of a two-year old child, with perfect cherub features and hair like… his.

Sephiroth stared. The little doll was snuggled close to Aeris, curling into the line of her body, its head tucked against her chest. There was movement, soft and slow. It was breathing. Sephiroth thought he could see something of Aeris' smile on the tiny lips and he did not need to look any further than the pale, feather-light hair to know the rest. He reached one hand out to brush his child's cheek, drawing back quickly when the skin seemed too delicate beneath his callused fingers.

He stood staring for a very long time. Mother and child. His family. The warmth that had lingered in the empty rooms was his to share in as well. He reached out with shaking hands to touch the child's hair. With easy grace, he slid into the space next to his love and child, trying not to wake them. The child stirred anyway and Sephiroth lay frozen halfway on the bed as eyes that in all the world only he was supposed to have blinked sleepily up at him.

"Daddy!" The child smiled happily and rolled into Sephiroth's waiting arms. Sephiroth caught his child up and immediately cradled the little one against his chest. The child hugged him, arms still soft with baby fat reaching around his neck. "Missed you, Daddy."

Sephiroth's breath caught. "I missed you too," he heard himself say, "but I'm home now." He held the little stuffed animal up. "You dropped your little doggy." The child released one arm from around Sephiroth's neck to hug the little plush toy tight. Sephiroth leaned back, in awe at the sight, his child, so normal, safe and protected, hugging a toy. He had never had any such thing himself growing up but as the little one settled in, clinging to his side, Sephiroth realized he wouldn't need one now.

"Sleep now," he said as he lowered both their heads to the pillow. "Don't wake Mommy."

"Too late," Aeris murmured beside him and shifted so he could settle down close beside her. Sephiroth kissed her forehead lightly. She curled herself against his side and put an arm around his waist. Their little cherub of a child still clung to his other side, one leg sprawled across Sephiroth's body. Little Doggy's raggedy ear tickled his nose but he did not complain. He had a family. Safe in his home, surrounded by love, Sephiroth smiled and let himself drift off to sleep.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

He woke to bracing cold, grasping for the shreds of a dream. Aeris groaned beside him, wriggling closer in her sleep. Sephiroth glanced down at her. She looked comfortably rumpled, much as she had in that warm bed. Sephiroth frowned. She deserved that big bed piled high with blankets, not this bleak expanse of rock and endless nights of running and hiding. He sank back to earth, going still as he tried to figure out what to do about it.

Aeris stirred again, seeking warmth. It was enough to snap Sephiroth back to the present. He grasped around in the dark for her thin sleeping bag. "Aeris?" He nudged her gently as he levitated the bag over. "Aeris, let me fix up a sleeping space." Aeris made a sound and wrinked her nose, doggedly fighting lucidity. Sephiroth stroked her hair and waited, reminded of hair strewn across a fluffy pillow. He wanted to see that again. "Aeris?"

"Mmm?" She blinked this time, locked in a dream of her own.

Sephiroth sat up and raised her shoulders. "Just let me wrap you in this." Aeris murmured again and rose sluggishly, sprawling across Sephiroth's lap. She hooked her chin over his shoulder and wound herself around him. Sephiroth smirked against her head. "Alright, little Miss Octopus," he said and worked with mind and his one free hand to fashion the sleeping bag into some kind of bed again. The thing barely made adequate bedding over gravel. Seph let a sigh escape. "Aeris, what's a home like?"

He felt her lashes moving against his neck. "Warm," she breathed.

Sephiroth smiled. "Yes, it would be warm, wouldn't it. "I never knew for sure."

Aeris leaned back in his arms and blinked up at him. "You never had any place to live?"

"I've lived many places, Aeris, but never for very long." He thought of scattered books on a coffee table, mismatched crockery and a mattress so well-used that it molded to his shape. "I think," he said carefully, "I think I might like to try having a real home."

Aeris laughed and settled back against him, her head heavy on his shoulder. "Looking to settle down?"

Sephiroth blinked. "Yes. With you."

Aeris went perfectly still, forgetting even to breathe as the words sank in. Sephiroth twisted his fingers in her curls and stared out at the waves. "Will you come with me?" The words felt weighty although he knew he had asked the question before. The sound of his own blood rushing past his ears drowned out the surf as he waited for an answer.

"Where will we go?" Aeris asked.

Sephiroth chuckled. "Anywhere you want."

Aeris curled up against Sephiroth's body. "Someplace warm."

"Okay, we'll have a little house someplace warm." Sephiroth smiled and hoisted them both onto the bed even though what he wanted to do was fly up to the stars.

"With flowers."

"Yes, you can grow as many flowers as you want." He held back gentle laughter.

Aeris turned her head up. "Seph, can we have a real bed?"

Sephiroth did laugh then. "Yes, Aeris, I promise, we'll definitely have a bed."

"And pretty curtains."

"As long as they're not the frilly kind."

Aeris pouted. "The frilly ones are the pretty ones."

"Fine." Sephiroth sighed. "But not pink, please, not pink."

"Not pink," Aeris agreed, yawning. "Maybe yellow."

"I suppose I could live with that."

Aeris yawned again. "Can we have a big bathtub? Big enough for two?"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I like where you're headed."

Aeris snorted in annoyment but Sephiroth did not believe it for one second. She settled herself more comfortably in his lap and reached down to hold his hand. "Can we have a porch and lots of wide open spaces?"

Sephiroth smirked. "Of course."

"Good," Aeris mumbled, "I want to watch the stars at night."

"So it's settled then? A little house with a big yard, lots of flowers and a dog."

Aeris reared back. "A dog?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I always wanted a dog."

Aeris grinned. "Okay, but he better not leave any presents in my flowerbeds." She rested her head on his shoulder again.

"So you'll come with me?" Sephiroth asked again when the silence stretched too long. Aeris shifted over him, sliding a leg along his thighs. She made a sound like a sigh and rocked her hips against his. Sephiroth gasped at the sudden turn. "Aeris! Again?" Aeris only moved against him again, insistent. She clung to his shoulders and licked his neck slowly with the tip of her tongue. Sephiroth gasped and clutched her waist to try to lift her away from him. She made a sound of protest and latched on tight, locking her ankles behind her back. He groaned through clenched teeth as she settled into his lap. "Aeris, you're going to wear me out." Sephiroth wanted to give himself a moment to adjust but Aeris wasn't having it. She bounced herself in his lap, making him throw his head back, nearly screaming.

"Easy, Easy!" He grabbed Aeris' hips and guided her into a gentler rhythm, rocking slowly with her. It was about as much as he could handle. Aeris settled into it without protest despite her initial energy. Her eyes were closed and the find strands of hair at her forehead were beginning to darken from dampness again. Sephiroth thought she had never looked more beautiful. He realized that giving her the big fluffy bed she wanted would mean he could see her like this every night. He choked back a sob and pulled Aeris against his chest. "Don't leave me, Aeris. Say you'll come with me."

Aeris made an indistinct murmur and ran limp hands down his back, but she still did not answer.

"Come with me," Sephiroth pleaded. "I'll give you everything you want. We'll have a home together." Here he broke off and buried his face in her hair, trembling uncontrollably. Aeris curled her fingers into his skin, clutching his back tight enough to scratch but Sephiroth did not mind. He stared out at the waves as he tried to control himself. "Come with me." His voice was hoarse and shaking. "Say you'll come with me."

"Yes," Aeris gasped, clawing at his shoulders. "Yes!" When she finally went still, resting her head on his shoulder again, he tried to calm himself by staring at the ocean but the waves were blurry. He hugged Aeris tight and rocked her back and forth. He shook hard as he came and never knew if what he heard was the waves on the rocks or his own beating heart.

"Thank you, Aeris, thank you." Aeris did not respond but his words kept tumbling out and Sephiroth did not even know what he was saying. "I'll take care of you, I swear it. I'll make you a home. I'll take care of you, Aeris, I love you, I love you. I love you so much! I love you!" He kept on saying it even though she was already fast asleep.


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Note: **Edited slightly for content, again. I'm doing that a lot more than I thought I would. ;P

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work. Original characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

Aeris nuzzled closer to Sephiroth's chest, sighing contentedly. "Good morning," she murmured. Sephiroth's only reply was a light snore. Aeris tweaked his nose. "Wakey wakey, sleepy head." Sephiroth batted half-heartedly and slipped back into stillness. Aeris decided to try another approach. She ran her fingers lightly through Sephiroth's hair and pressed little kisses all over his face. The man did not move.

Aeris huffed and rolled back a little, away from the persistent pressure near her thighs. She glanced down and smiled wryly. "At least _some_body's up this morning." She scooted down to be close enough. "Good morning, Masamune-san! You're looking very perky today!"

Sephiroth twitched awake just long enough to glare at Aeris and roll over so she could not carry on conversations with his anatomy. Aeris sighed and ran her eyes over the muscular length of back. "Well," she said, running a finger all the way down Sephiroth's spine, "this isn't a bad view either."

Sephiroth jerked up, conveniently rolling his backside away from curious fingers. "Don't wake me up for your little games, woman," he snarled, eyebrows angled like the wings of a hawk swooping down for the kill. Then he slumped back to the ground, practically on his stomach, looking for all the world as if he had not woken at all.

Aeris sat frozen, still seeing his eyes glowing furiously just inches from her face. "Fine, then," she grumbled, "you can just play with yourself from now on." She scooted away and curled up with her back towards him, stealing all the covers as she turned. She smirked at Sephiroth's gasp at the sudden exposure. Served him right. She gripped the blanket even tighter around herself so there would be no chance of him getting any.

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around himself, fighting for sleep, but it was too late. The cold seeped into every crevice and woke him fully. He reached backwards with one hand to try to tug some of the blanket over but Aeris wriggled out of his reach as soon as his fingers brushed the fleece.

"_That's what you get for treating a girl like a booty call."_

Sephiroth only grunted.

"_Well, good morning to you too, Sunshine,"_ the voice drawled. _"Listen, I'm not exactly wild about the fact that you're banging her, but you better fix things quick if you expect this relationship to continue." _

"_She shouldn't have woken me up like that!"_ Sephiroth insisted, _"I need my sleep."_

"_Women have needs too, Seph. It wouldn't kill you to at least act like hers matter." _

"_After last night how can she possibly need more?" _

"_What?"_ The voice gloated. _"Are you saying you're not_ up _to the job?"_

Sephiroth growled at the insinuation. _"I'm up to anything. She said so herself."_

"_Then why the snapping? If you're not in the mood you could at least let her down gently."_

Sephiroth sighed. _"I suppose." _He could feel his half-welcome guest waiting in his mind. It was almost like having someone pacing inside his brain. It itched.

"_So are you going to patch things up, or what?"_

"_I don't want you watching."_

"_Fine, fine,"_ the voice conceded, fading slightly. _"If you need me you know where to look."_

"_Do I?"_ But the voice was gone. Sephiroth probed the inner recesses of memory, searching. He seemed to be alone in his head again. He sighed and rolled over.

"Aeris," he called gently, "Aeris." She did not answer. He reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened at his touch and shrugged his hand off. Sephiroth was too tired to really get angry at it even though he found it childish. He let his fingers play in the loose fold of blanket. "Aeris, I'm sorry I yelled at you." Aeris scoffed and huddled down even more. Sephiroth was at a loss.

"_Psst,"_ came a whisper from the deep. _"You have to say it with sugar on it."_ Sephiroth chased after the voice but it faded faster than he could follow. He sighed.

"Aeris, I'm sorry with sugar on it, whatever that means." He heard her stifle a snicker and it seemed that some of the tension went out of her shoulders. He inched towards her, close enough to feel the welcome heat of the covers. He tugged lightly at the nearest folds and slid himself underneath, skin to skin with Aeris. She did not quite melt against his body but he didn't get an elbow in the ribs either.

Sephiroth took a chance and kissed her shoulder. She tasted of salt and smelled of him all over. Sephiroth shivered despite his earlier protests. He slid an arm around her and she did not object. Now that he took the time to look, he could see the marks he had left on her, little red love bites on her throat, tracing a path down to her breasts. Her hair was a tangled mess. All anyone had to do was look at her to know that she was his. Sephiroth slid his hand up her body to grasp a breast. He ran his fingers from one to the other and found her nipples peaked and firm. From more than just the cold, he hoped.

She shifted slightly and he took the chance to slide his other arm under her. He pulled her closer and trapped her in his grasp. No more sliding away, not now. She had taken her chances and roused the beast and there would be consequences. He sucked one earlobe into his mouth, then ran his tongue along the curve of her ear. She gasped a little, but held back, still playing hard-to-get. Sephiroth purred. He was definitely up to anything, including her little challenge.

He ran his lips over her neck, raising himself enough to lean over and get her throat. He made hungry nips at her jaw line but she refused to give him her mouth just yet. He licked her cheek and won a squeal. When she turned her head to wipe off the dampness on her shoulder, he caught her lips and did not let go till she was breathless and trembling.

She slumped to the ground, unable to stop him. Sephiroth moved one hand down to her thighs and urged one leg up and over his own. She obeyed, glancing back over her shoulder. Sephiroth kissed the corner of her mouth. "It's okay."

Aeris turned her head slightly. Her cheeks were flushed and despite the coolness of morning, she felt almost too warm. Too damp and sticky for sure. "Seph?" She wormed her way out from under his arm to turn over. "Seph?"

Sephiroth started out of a light doze and blinked wearily at her. "Please, Aeris, no more."

Aeris laughed. "Oh, am I wearing you out, Soldier?"

"And then some." Sephiroth stretched slightly, just enough to feel the kink in his lower back. He would be feeling that one the morning after.

"_It _is_ the morning after."_

"_Then go away and let me enjoy it!" _

"Seph, are you alright?" Aeris began to knead Sephiroth's shoulder. "Want a back rub?"

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow. "That's your plan, isn't it?

"Plan for what?" Aeris blinked, a picture of innocence.

"To distract me and rescue that prisoner of war," said Sephiroth, reaching up to yank on the bra that had gotten tangled in Aeris' hair. "Sneaky."

"Oh, I knew something felt funny." Aeris grimaced and tried to see how to get the bra loose. Sephiroth brushed her cheek to still her and worked the hooks out of her curls. "Thank you, Sephy," Aeris said but Sephiroth would not let her have it.

"Not so fast, little lady," he said, holding it out of her reach, "The prisoner was apprehended while attempting to escape. Some punishment is in order."

Aeris crossed her arms and pouted at him. "It's a bra, Sephiroth. What are you going to do? Put it on the rack? Besides, you promised I could have it back in the morning."

"_How about a prisoner exchange? You could ask her for your heart back."_

"I'll trade you. A few minutes more sleep and it's yours."

"_Hey, don't ignore me!"_

"Deal." Aeris brushed Sephiroth's hair out of face and watched him sleep. It did not seem to be a particularly deep sleep – his lips twitched a little now and then and his breathing wasn't all that steady – but it looked restful enough. Aeris inched forward and rested her forehead against his chest. He stirred just enough to let her tangle herself up with him as she pleased, settling right back down when she was still. Aeris watched the fall of light on his shoulder change slightly. It was just enough time for her body to cool and feel clammy. She groaned a little and shifted, restless.

Sephiroth's eyes flew open. "Aeris, don't move your knee any higher!"

"What is it?" Aeris froze and took stock of her position. She had one leg between both of his, her knee dangerously close to bruising the fruit. "Oh," she said and carefully straightened her leg out. "Close one, huh? Sorry."

Sephiroth shifted away and sat up as soon as he was able. "Not the best way to wake up, but no harm done. And as promised…" He held the bra out.

"That was enough sleep?"

"It will do. I just needed to time to wake all of me up."

Aeris snickered. "Yeah, I noticed." She played with one of the rocks that had encircled their fire the night before. "I could really use a shower." Sephiroth made a sound of agreement, then went perfectly still. He had drunk some tea yesterday, hadn't he?

"I'll be right back." He sprang up and bounded away across the sand.

"Wait," Aeris called, "Where are you going?"

"Nature calls," Sephiroth cried over his shoulder and tried to find some place out of sight. Eventually he could not wait anymore and just took aim at the closest shrub.

"_Praise Ifrit! The eagle has landed!"_

Sephiroth jerked so hard he almost splashed his feet. _"Do you mind?"_

"_What, aren't you glad your plumbing's in working order?"_

"_Yes, but I don't need you watching." _

"_I'm not watching. I have my eyes closed."_

Sephiroth snorted. _"Do you even have eyes wherever you are?"_

"_Well, metaphorically, yes, I think."_

Sephiroth scowled. _"Look, just back off. I don't want you listening either."_

"_Aye, Sir, General Grumpypants! Oh, and don't forget to shake." _

Sephiroth waited a little longer to make sure the annoying little voice was gone before heading back to the makeshift campsite. He found Aeris wrapped loosely in the blanket, staring out at the sea. 'How about a bath?" he offered, tilting his head towards the ocean.

"That water must be freezing."

"I'll warm it up for us." He helped Aeris up and led her to the sea, briefly glancing around to be sure no one was coming to intrude. True to his word, he used a very mild burst of energy to warm the water around them. Not too hot because Aeris didn't want him cooking the fish right there in their own home.

The saltwater stung them both a bit in all the sore spots but that didn't last long. Nevertheless Sephiroth guided Aeris through the current till they eventually came to the mouth of a small stream. "Saltwater baths aren't too great when you dry off," he explained. They found some rocks to sit on in a small pool and sat there watching their hair twine in the swirling water.

"Bath time should always be like this," Aeris breathed, leaning back in the water.

"For us, it will be," Sephiroth promised dreamily. He watched the love bites fading from her body and traced them with his fingers before they disappeared. Aeris offered to wash his back for him and he obliged, holding his heavy mass of hair out of the way for her. She made slow passes along the length of his spine and spilled handfuls of water over his shoulders. When she fit herself against him, breasts pressed flat against his back and arms wrapped around his chest, there was no urgency in it, only closeness.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Cloud lay watching the sun cross the ceiling for a long time. It meant something but he could not remember what. There was something he was supposed to be doing but it could not have been that important. He would not have had so much trouble remembering it if it had been. He sat up and took a look around. Barret and Cid were sprawled out on the futon beside him. Even Vincent was still sleeping, if fitfully, on the other side. Everything seemed to be in place.

Still, something did not feel right. He got up and went to the bathroom to try to sort himself out. He splashed some water on his face and checked his eyes in the mirror. Still blue, still glowing, nothing out of the ordinary there. He leaned over the sink and tried to pin down what was bothering him. He stared down at his hands as if they were a stranger's. They were a touch too small, a little too fine, callused but not in quite the way he had expected.

He shook his head at himself. They were his hands. They fit his body perfectly. Why would he somehow be expecting something else? He stared up into the mirror again and was struck by just how bright his hair was. Yes, he was aware in a vague sort of way that he was blond, but he never paid much attention to it and goodness, weren't people right when they compared his head to a chocobo? He tugged at his spikes and tried to get them to fall right but they never would. They were right for him just the way they were, weren't they? They had always been that way. Why did he think they should be something else?

Cloud went back to the guest room to gather his things. He could not sort everything out just now, not by himself. Maybe Aeris could help. She usually did. And if she couldn't, then Tifa surely would.

A brisk walk took him to Yuffie's place. He only thought to be wary of waking people up for no real serious reason after he knocked. Yuffie cracked the door open and peered out carefully.

"Oh, it's you, Cloud," she said and opened the door a little further. She was dressed in some kind of robe and she looked a little rumpled. Cloud guessed he had woken her after all.

"I'm looking for Aeris," he said.

Yuffie looked back quickly. "Um, she's not here."

"Do you know where she went? It's kind of important."

Yuffie shook her head and fidgeted in the doorway. "She probably went for a walk. You know how she does it."

Cloud tried to go inside but Yuffie stepped up to block his way. Cloud could not see why, but it was her place. "You know where Tifa is?"

Yuffie nibbled her lip. "She said she was spending the night with some drummer or something."

Cloud was floored. "She… she— what?"

The particular tint of what she had said in Continental hit Yuffie till she was red in the face. "I didn't mean it like that!" she squeaked. "She said she was spending the night at his house, meeting his family and all that."

"Oh, that's nice, I guess." Cloud was shaking with relief.

Yuffie closed the door slightly, hoping Cloud would get the hint. He didn't move. "You need coffee or something, Cloud? Cuz I don't have any."

Cloud shook his head. "No, I just… I just need some space."

"Well, if you just need to cool down a bit, how about helping Mrs. Kitazawa next door with her cats for a while. That always works for me."

"Cats?"

"Yeah. She has dozens of them."

Cloud looked down at his boots. "Okay. I guess. Thanks." Yuffie watched him wander off and ring the door bell. The old lady came out soon enough. She was up with the chickens. She watched Cloud awkwardly explaining himself, counting the seconds and thanking her lucky stars that Cloud was rather suggestible sometimes. As soon as he disappeared inside the house, she slid her own door shut and ran over to the sleeping space.

"Yuki!" She nudged the boy with her foot. "Yuki, wake up! It's morning!"

Yuki shot upwards, wild-eyed and twitchy. "Tell me I didn't—"

Yuffie hugged herself. "I'm afraid you did."

"Oh, sweet Leviathan…" he scrambled for his coat. "We are so dead!"

"Not if nobody sees you leaving. It's still early."

Yuki nodded, jaw set. "You got a back door?"

"Yeah, this way." Yuffie led him out and took a careful look around before letting him leave. "Run like hell," she warned. "Oh, god, you're not a ninja. You don't know how to hide, do you?"

"I can hide. I may not do it the same way you do."

"Then just… be careful."

Yuki looked Yuffie right in the eye, lingering despite the rush. "You know I will."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Sure you don't want any?" Aeris offered Sephiroth a bite of the sweet. Sephiroth took only a tiny nibble.

"Breakfast should always be like this," he said, still chewing.

"What, naked?" Aeris leaned back in his arms to give him a quick kiss.

"You're not complaining, are you?"

"Not one bit."

"Good." Sephiroth reached over to the rumpled heap of clothing. "We can get moving when you're done eating."

"Moving where?"

Sephiroth frowned. "Anywhere you like. You did say you wanted to go someplace warm."

Aeris tensed. "When did I say that?"

Sephiroth dropped the clothes he was holding. "Last night. Don't you remember? You said you would come with me."

Aeris blinked. "I did?"

"You did."

The woman flushed. "Oh, I didn't mean right away. I couldn't have."

Sephiroth felt the warmth rush out of him. "What do you mean you couldn't have?"

"I can't just leave my friends without a word, Seph."

Sephiroth pulled away from her and refused to meet her eyes. "You forget about me when you're with them," he grumbled.

"Oh, no, Sephiroth, never," Aeris shook her head and set her hand on his arm. "I forget about them when I'm with you."

Sephiroth looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Is that so?"

Aeris nodded. "When I'm near you, Seph, everything else just… falls away."

"Really?" Sephiroth cocked an eyebrow. "You don't just want me for my body?"

"Well, it is a very nice body." Aeris ran her fingers down his thigh.

"I knew it," Sephiroth groaned. "You just want to get in my pants. When I'm no use to you anymore, you'll probably take me out back and shoot me like a worn-out stud chocobo." He threw himself back on the blanket.

"You won't wear out. There's a pill for that now." Aeris threw herself down on top of him "Besides, it's your own darn fault for making yourself so available. Don't advertise what's not for sale."

Sephiroth snorted. "Your mother must be a real prude." Aeris smacked him.

"She's _protective._"

"Whatever you say, Aeris. Just as long as you come with me."

"Not now."

"But soon." Sephiroth held Aeris' hand against his chest. "Don't make me wait forever."

Aeris felt her pulse move in time with Sephiroth's beating heart. There was so much she needed to say to Sephiroth and she needed time to say it. "Soon," she promised.

Sephiroth smiled up at her. "Then I'll wait." They lay together until the sun grew stronger and Sephiroth felt they had best get moving before Aeris ended up with a very nasty sunburn. He sorted out their clothes and watched Aeris put on the troublesome brassiere, shaking his head at how easily she handled it.

"Here you go," he said as he handed her bag to her, "By the way, your blanket's probably going to need a good wash."

Aeris wrinkled her nose. "I noticed." She pulled out a ribbon and sat beside him to work on her hair. Sephiroth watched the wild strands in her bangs blow across her face. The sun bathed her in pure light but she had a rosy glow of her own. Sephiroth sighed lustily.

"What's the matter, Seph?"

"You're beautiful."

Aeris' cheeks flushed a deeper rose and she looked down immediately. Sephiroth began to reassure her but she caught his open mouth with a kiss and would not let him go. Sephiroth shivered and let himself melt into it, returning the kiss with all the sweet desperation Aeris had brought to it.

The first intense rush faded and it became a gently play of lips which neither of them was willing to end. Sephiroth opened one eye to take stock of the unspoken contest. Aeris was still intently kissing him, her tongue teasing the tip of his own but her fingers were still flying, twisting long coils of hair into a neat corkscrew.

"Something wrong?" Aeris mumbled, still nibbling at his lip.

Sephiroth was forced to yield. "I can't believe you can kiss me like that and still be doing your hair."

"It's a gift." Aeris smiled and leaned against him. Sephiroth kissed the top of her head and wrapped an arm around her.

"_Women, huh? Just amazing, the things they can do."_

Sephiroth tried not to make any outward sound._ "They do think with both sides of their brain."_

"_And in the meantime, you're losing half your blood supply to a second head."_

Sephiroth glanced down. _"Better get dressed then, or we might never get off this beach."_

The presence twisted inside Sephiroth._ "Hold up. You _want_ to get away from her now?"_

"_She has to say goodbye to her friends and I have a few things of my own to take care of. The sooner we get that out of the way, the sooner we can be together for good." _

"_Ah, I see."_ Sephiroth could almost feel the voice nodding_. "Makes sense."_

"_Don't I always?"_

"_Not lately." _

Sephiroth snorted. Aeris glanced up. "I'm done now," she said. "Want me to do yours?"

Sephiroth followed the twisted coils up to the large pink bow. "No, thank you."

"Too bad." Aeris shrugged and turned his head so she could plant a kiss on him. Sephiroth felt something rustle by his ear when she took her hand away. Straining his peripheral vision, he managed to see the blurry outline of a grass flower.

"Aeris."

"Yes, Seph?"

"You stuck a flower behind my ear."

"Yeah, sure did."

Sephiroth hunched over. "I'm doomed."

Aeris patted his back. "Don't worry. You'll enjoy it."

Sephiroth sighed and passed her dress. He could not tear his eyes away as she did up the buttons. After she slid on her jacket, she patted herself down, smoothing any wrinkles and stray hairs. She looked at him expectantly. "Your turn."

Sephiroth reached for his pants, shaking his head. Dressing and undressing with an audience was hardly new. Occasionally that audience had even been lustful but Aeris stared with a frank appreciation that made Sephiroth feel something akin to a flush of wicked pride.

"Don't you have any underwear?" Aeris asked, more curious than anything.

Sephiroth shrugged. "Ran out once during the war and stopped bothering entirely with it."

"Ran out of shirts too?"

"No, just… well, the tags in the back were always too itchy."

Aeris laughed. "So you gave up on shirts?"

"That's about it." Sephiroth toed the pile of leather, searching for all his belts.

"Well, it's a good look on you, at any rate." Aeris stepped closer and nuzzled his chest. "You know, they make tagless shirts now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they just print the washing instructions inside the shirt instead."

"Hmm, imagine that."

"_Yeah, tagless shirts and penis pills! Life is looking up!" _

"_Do you mind? My woman happens to be nibbling my—" _Seph hissed. "Nipple!"

Aeris laved the spot with her tongue. "Too rough?"

"A little."

Aeris murmured an apology and moved over, still intently nipping Sephiroth's skin. Sephiroth stared for a while and shifted a little where he stood. Aeris showed no signs of stopping. Sephiroth clawed at the sand with his feet, digging two tiny trenches to hide his toes in. Eventually, he had to cough slightly to get Aeris' attention. "Are you finished?"

"In a minute."

Sephiroth's left leg began to twitch. "Aeris," he pleaded, "you're going to have to stop that."

"Why?"

"Because," Sephiroth sputtered, pulling away. "Look at what you're doing!" He looked down at himself, clearly dismayed. "How am I supposed to get my pants buckled up properly over that?"

Aeris glanced up at him through her eyelashes. "Don't worry," she said, kneeling down. "I'll fix it."

"Aeris! You're making it worse! Don't – Oh, hey, okay…"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"You're late, Yuffie." Godo turned away from the window. "You just missed your future mother-in-law."

"You never said anything about an audience this morning."

"I know." Godo began to pace but he did not seem too put out. "I've been thinking it over, Yuffie. I know we're both agreed that duty to Wutai may sometimes be a heavy burden…"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. The old man was at it again. He would go on and on about honor and duty and the greater good, the nobility of self-sacrifice, the importance of tradition. She settled herself down for a long wait. When he got like this, it was likely to take hours.

"But there will occasionally be times, in the modern world, when one has to cast off that yoke, break with tradition, if you will, to achieve that foremost goal, the well-being of the nation."

"What?" Yuffie blinked. Godo did not adhere to the tenets of Wutai tradition as much as he pretended to, could not, with what the world outside Wutai had become, but hearing him voice it was something new.

"The times have changed quickly," Godo went on, staring out into the distance. "Perhaps a decision made yesterday is not right for today."

"Uh huh." Yuffie tried to hurry him up. What was he getting at?

"Perhaps an earlier promise of strength may not have panned out and what seemed delicate before has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with."

"Is this about me whipping your butt yesterday?"

"The times call for strength and firmness. Wutai needs strong leaders."

"And here we are," Yuffie said, even though she knew Godo never actually listened to anyone when he had an audience for his monologues.

"Yes! Here we are!" he bellowed, surprising her. "You and I, Yuffie, warriors both, tested in battle!"

"Uh huh. What's this about?"

"Wutai needs warriors, administrators, diplomats even. We can't have just anybody in power. This isn't the time for dancers, or—" he frowned, "musicians."

That flicked a switch in Yuffie's brain. "Hold up, is this about me and Yuki?" she blurted out. Fortunately, Godo did not seem to notice her informality.

"It may be time to break with tradition."

"Did his mother tick you off or something?"

"We must have no sign of weakness in what is to come. You have your mother's spirit, Yuffie, and I would hate to see you chained to someone who cannot match it."

Yuffie narrowed her eyes at him. He really did hope for her to marry some hide-bound samurai guy, someone just like him, someone he could approve of. With his comparative lack of weapons training, Yuki was not that. "You realize breaking that kind of arrangement is just asking for dishonor upon our House, don't you? Besides, I don't really have a problem with it as it is."

Godo blinked. "You don't? After all that yelling yesterday?"

Yuffie shrugged. "I thought it over. If it's for the good of Wutai," she paused, making an effort to look put upon. "I can deal with it."

"Well, that's a pleasant surprise, I suppose." Godo eyed his daughter, wondering what she was getting at. "But Wutai needs a strong House at the front."

"Absolutely," Yuffie chirped, "and a House involved in a disagreement with another isn't really strong."

"Yes," Godo said slowly. He had forgotten that.

"If that coming thing that you keep hinting at is so big, this is no time for the Kisaragi clan to get involved in a dispute with another." Yuffie looked thoughtful. "It's probably not a good time for a wedding either but you weren't planning to marry me up right away, were you?"

Godo reached for his seat, feeling things quickly getting away from him. "Well, no."

"Then we should leave things as they are," Yuffie said, trying hard not to smile too broadly, "for the good of Wutai. We can deal with it later when the time is right."

Godo nodded weakly. "Yes, I suppose that's best."

Yuffie reached in and dragged out her 'innocent' face. Time to really stick it to the flip-flopping old fart. "And when that time comes, for the good of Wutai, we'll want to avoid the lack of potential successors we had this time around, right? So I figure this Takeda Yuki and I better have lots of kids."

Godo went white. Yuffie smiled. "You'd like having lots of grandchildren, wouldn't you? We'll name them Yuuri and Yuuji and Yusuke and Yuna and Yutaka and Yumi and…"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_Left you all by your lonesome, didn't she?"_

Sephiroth said nothing. He sat facing the ocean, arm on one knee. He could still feel the imprint of Aeris' last lingering kiss on his lips. She had left him with a promise and a lukewarm bottle of sake in a puddle of wet sand. Sephiroth sighed.

"_Snap out of it, Sephiroth. It's not like you to have your head so tied up behind some woman."_

"_I can't help it."_ Sephiroth tried to muster a glare at a passing seagull but he could not find it in him.

The presence treaded lightly through Sephiroth's recent memory. _"You're really in love with her, aren't you?" _

"_Looks that way." _

"_I guess I can't ask for more than that,"_ the voice said sadly. They both sighed together.

Sephiroth looked back over his shoulder, towards Wutai. _"She hasn't been gone for ten minutes and I miss her already. Is that normal?"_

"_For somebody who's completely smitten, absolutely." _

"_What do I do now?"_

"_You're asking me?"_ The presence stretched a little. _"Bide your time till you're together again. That's about all you can do."_

Sephiroth nodded, eyes tracking the seagulls lower down the beach. A trickle of water near his finger drew his attention to the languishing sake. He stared at the bottle for a while, contemplating.

"_Sephiroth,"_ the voice warned, _"you be careful with that."_

"_It would be a shame to let it go to waste,"_ Sephiroth said and opened the bottle. "To love," he declared and started chugging.

The presence shook its metaphorical head. _"This won't end well."_

* * *

**A.N: **I had so much fun writing this (and no, not just for the little censored portion ;P). I have a few pieces of fanart up at my deviantart account in case anyone's interested. Some of it is Aeriseph (not related to this fic though I have a few things in mind) and the rest... well, mind the crack, y'all!


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work. Original characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

Sleeping late was the privilege of both geisha and independent women of means, a privilege in which Ayame indulged without shame. A long night, more than anything, called for judicious exercise of this privilege of particular social rank. A night entertaining Lord Godo in between fishing for information, especially with recent events, definitely counted as a long night. The climbing sun found Ayame on her futon, sleeping like the dead.

A rattle at her window failed to wake her. A few more light clatters made her eyes twitch, but just barely. One flinty pebble flew straight and true and landed with a thwack just inches from her nose. Ayame jolted awake and did not even have time to register what was happening before a second rock flew in, collided with the first and rebounded onto her head. She flew up with an undignified squawk.

Another rock came in through the open window. Two more came in quick succession and hit the house. Ayame ran to the wall and pressed herself flat against it, straining to get a look out the window. A flash of black and silver spurred her to action.

"General Sephiroth, why are you throwing rocks at my house?" Ayame gripped the window frame and railed at the man, heedless of the danger. One rock flew past, barely missing her head.

Sephiroth froze, dripping water, his arm stuck in the follow-through. "Oh, you're up! I was hoping you were. I have something to tell you!" The smile on his face was a touch too wide. Ayame edged away from the window.

"What is it?"

Sephiroth threw both arms in the air and spun around in a circle. "I'm in love!"

Ayame slumped. "Is that all? I thought we established that yesterday."

"I'm in love, Ayame! We're going to have a house and curtains and a kid and everything!" He bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Are you now?" Ayame looked him up and down. Through the last haze of a sleep-fuddled brain, it finally dawned on her. "General, you're drunk."

"Drunk on love!"

Ayame shook her head. "Why are you soaking wet?"

Sephiroth's smile faltered "There's a little river in your garden, Ayame. I had to go through it."

"Why didn't you use the bridge?"

"There's a bridge?" Sephiroth blinked and looked around, half-dazed. Not twenty feet away, an elegant foot bridge arched over the stream. Sephiroth turned back, eyes bright. "Ayame, there's a bridge!"

Ayame groaned and wished she was still in bed. "General, just how many drinks did you have?"

Sephiroth began to count on his fingers, swaying a little and mouthing the words. He lost track twice and had to start over. Eventually, arriving at an answer, he bobbed his head up and declared, "One!"

Ayame could have smacked herself. "One shot?"

"Nuh, one bottle!" Sephiroth held up two fingers and stared with perfect innocence up at the window. Ayame slumped over the window frame and wondered what she had done to anger the gods of sleep.

"All right, you lightweight," she sighed, "you might as well come inside and dry up. And out." She stalked off towards her linens and began pulling out towels. They were going to need lots of those.

As soon as she stepped into the main hall, she knew this was not going to be easy. A trail of mud and water soaked her floor in a meandering line that started at the front door. Ayame clutched the pile of towels close and followed it straight to her bedroom.

Sephiroth stood close to the door, his face turned towards the sunlight, stark naked. "Oh, Hades," Ayame groaned, "What is the matter with you?" Sephiroth turned around and blinked. Ayame shook her head. "Never mind. How did you get undressed so fast?"

"Practice!" Sephiroth grinned. "Lotsa practice!"

"Getting a lot of that lately, aren't you?" Ayame tossed him a towel. "Dry your hair, at least." She studied him as he toweled off. His leathers lay in a heap in the corner. They were going to need careful drying and oiling, but the damage was probably already done. His boots bore a thick crust of mud. Ayame shook her head and wished she was strong enough to take the mistreatment of her tatami mats out on Sephiroth's well-deserving backside.

Which at that very moment was in plain view. Sephiroth had the bulk of his hair in front of him as he worked the towel over it. Ayame took the chance to make her careful observations. For informational purposes only, of course. Really. She sighed. "It's like you haven't aged a day," she muttered. "Lucky bastard."

"What?" Sephiroth turned.

"Nothing. Get the water out of your hair, General. You're going to need a good bath but I don't want you flooding my entire house in the meantime."

Sephiroth worked quietly, swaying actually humming some strange fragment of melody that seemed coherent and possibly on-key, if unfamiliar. "Ayame," he said suddenly.

"Yes, General."

"I'm in love."

"So you've said, General." Ayame passed him a dry towel.

"We're going to live together in a little house with frilly curtains."

"That's nice, General. Why don't you sit before you fall over?"

Sephiroth obeyed, half-flopping onto the futon as he tossed the half-sodden towel for Ayame to catch. "We're going to have a little house," he said, his eyes heavy-lidded. "And I'm going to be a…"

"A what, General?" Ayame asked, neatening the towel over her arm. She glanced up when there was no reply. Sephiroth had fallen asleep on himself, sitting up on the futon, curling downwards with gravity's urgings. Ayame watched him slump right down. She leaned heavily against the wooden door frame. "Well, I'm sure this is the last time you'll ever be naked in my bed."

She slid the door shut on him just in case and went to toss the towels in the laundry hamper. A rustle from outside put her on the alert. She dumped the towels and padded to the side door.

Yuki was picking his way through the yard, koto slung over his shoulder. He had the harried look of someone escaping trouble. Ayame slid the door open, realizing a moment too late that she was practically straight from bed. "You're early, Takeda," she barked.

Yuki stopped short on the grass and made a hasty bow. "Good morning, sensei. I was hoping you wouldn't mind me getting an early start." He hefted his koto and did his level best not to stare directly at her for too long.

Ayame made a vain attempt to smooth her hair. "Does this have anything to do with your mother?"

"Not really." The boy still had not mastered the art of keeping his face effortlessly neutral. There was a telltale twitch of the eyelashes, only really noticeable if one knew to look for it.

Ayame nodded sharply. "Come in then, and begin. Don't wonder around the house, please. I have things to take care of." She watched him like a hawk to be sure he went in the proper side. If she could just keep her guests on opposite ends of the house, she could have time to clean up the floor and not risk any kind of exposure.

First came a mop, and a broom, but they were not much use in the bedroom. The tatami mats were near ruined from the General's heavy boots. The mud and water did not help. "Damn that man," Ayame mumbled as she tried to soak up the water. "Always leaving other people to clean up his mess." Yuki hit a sour note that made her wince. "From the top, Yuki!" she yelled and put her back into the cleaning. She knew she was doing it all wrong somehow. Housekeeping was not the business of a geisha and Ayame had come late to learning it as a chore. She leaned on the mop and paused for breath. It would be hours before her hired help and other students trickled in and putting Yuki to work would be risky.

Yuki hit another wrong note, stopped, swore and tried again. Ayame tackled the mop again. At least the boy was busy, one way or another. Ayame thanked Leviathan for small blessings and picked two mats off the floor. All this cleaning and not a chance for a bath herself as yet. She took the mats outside in the hopes that the sun might dry them well enough to serve till they could be replaced.

"Good morning, Ayame."

Ayame spun around, holding the small square mat up before her. In the crowning moment of a terrible day, Adrean stepped lightly over the bridge and made his way to the door, smiling. Ayame edged backwards, painfully aware of her thin, rumpled yukata. Her face was bare, her hair was a mess and she was probably even a bit muddy, yet Adrean, of all people, would choose this ungodly hour of the day to show up on her doorstep. "Men," she groaned, "Always coming too soon."

"Good morning, Ayame," Adrean said again, "You look lovelier every time I see you."

"Hmm, flatterer." Ayame turned away.

"Maybe," Adrean answered, "but not a liar. Yuki's here, isn't he?"

"Doing his best to drive off every woodland rodent in the vicinity." Ayame backed into the doorway, still holding the mat up before her. Adrean grasped the edges and she let it slide with no protest.

"His concentration's probably shot for the day," Adrean said, catching her attention. "His mother's not too happy at the moment."

"So I gathered." Ayame retreated behind the door while Adrean took off his shoes. "Are the wedding plans not to her liking?"

"There may not even be a wedding, depending on what Godo does. Things got rather heated this morning."

"Don't tell me." Ayame glanced into the house where the music was stumbling its way to fluidity. "Yuki is not what Godo expected."

"Not what anyone would have expected from the Takeda line but the boy was still a baby when his father died, and the war took care of his uncles." Adrean glanced up at Ayame. She was staring into the woods. She raised an eyebrow but did not look at him.

"So his education is his mother's fault, you're saying?"

"Maybe she didn't want a close reminder of her husband."

"Wouldn't blame her," Ayame muttered. Adrean pretended not to hear.

"I'm sure Yuki has his share in how he's turning out." He straightened up and stepped inside at Ayame's bidding. Yuki struck several bad chords and began thrashing the instrument in earnest, no longer even bothering to play. Adrean shook his head. "I've been talking to him about that." He strode down the hallway to where Yuki was doing his very best to massacre music.

"Yuki, if you're upset and want to talk, you just have to ask."

"And interrupt your conversation?" Yuki plucked the strings again.

Adrean ruffled the boy's hair. "It's more polite than this, Yuki." He pulled the boy's hands off the instrument. "The conversation was about you anyway. I would have welcomed your input. Ayame as well." Ayame nodded slightly from the doorway. Adrean turned back to Yuki. "Your mother asked me to find you but I can take my time with the 'looking for you' part, if you like."

Yuki huffed. "Is she still crazy?"

"It's a permanent state of being for some people."

Yuki hunched down. "She started screaming at me as soon as she saw me. She said it was my fault Godo's not going through with the arrangement, but I never had anything to do with it in the first place."

"She's just looking for someone to blame. It will pass when things have cooled down," Ayame said from beyond the door.

"I know that." Yuki stared at a spot on the floor. "But she's right."

"She is?" Adrean shared a glance with Ayame. Adolescents had such twisted reasoning.

Yuki rolled his eyes. He had not missed the look. "I asked her to study music. A long time ago when my uncle was still alive. He wanted to train me in combative chocobo riding and she was looking for any excuse to say no." Yuki shrugged. "Apprenticeship to a Master musician seemed like a good suggestion."

Adrean shook with silent laughter. "And it got you out of the house for quite a while, didn't it? Ayame, we're going to have to keep our eyes on this one."

"Apparently." Ayame had to smile from the doorway. "You're not to blame for this mess, Yuki. You may have wheedled your way into a little freedom but Godo's expectations and your mother's ambitions are their own creation."

Adrean nodded. "It will be all right,"

"If you say so." He still seemed sullen, but that was fairly normal.

"How was your walk last night?" Adrean asked brightly, deliberately changing the subject.

"It was okay, I guess." Yuki shrugged but there was faint color rising in his face.

"Just okay?"

Yuki fixed Adrean with a look. "Yes, just okay." He was really turning pink now.

"What walk was this now?" Ayame asked, floundering in the face of Adrean's knowing smile.

"Yuki escorted his betrothed home last night. It appears they simply ran into each other while the older heads were making plans."

Ayame covered her mouth and laughed. "Isn't that nice? So, Yuki, is the girl acceptable?"

Yuki began to look extremely put-upon. "She's nice, I guess."

"Nice, you guess?" Adrean said. "That doesn't quite sound like enough to have you sneaking into your own window early in the morning." Ayame's eyes went wide.

Yuki frowned and went from plain pink to rose. "We talked. A lot."

"Really now?" Ayame could not help asking, even though Yuki was cursing his luck at being stuck with the two nosiest people in Wutai and everybody in the room knew it. "Is that all you did?"

Yuki swallowed hard and started looking distinctly cherry. "She showed me her materia."

"Showed you her materia, eh? Is that what the young people are calling it nowadays?" Adrean shook with laughter.

Yuki gritted his teeth. "You old people are crazy."

"Don't worry. You'll get your turn." Adrean stood an stretched. "Why don't you go for a walk or something."

"Fine," Yuki grumbled and set the koto aside. "How long is it going to take you two to talk about whatever it is you don't want me hearing?"

Adrean glanced at Ayame but didn't bat an eye. "A couple of hours should do it, I think. Try to stay out of sight."

"Use the side door," said Ayame. She kept her eye on him to make sure he went. Adrean stayed comfortably silent long after the boy was out of earshot. "Well?" Ayame said softly, still half-hidden behind the door.

"He's a sharp one," said Adrean.

"He's got a bit of an attitude as well."

"He'll grow out of it, I'm sure." Adrean leaned back on his hands and tried to get a better look at Ayame. "If he doesn't just pop him a good one. That usually does the trick."

Ayame nodded. "He'll serve well."

Adrean stretched out and set one arm on a knee, a careful show of relaxation. "Care to tell me about your other guest, Ayame?"

Ayame exhaled and bent her head. Her heart flew to her throat at the thought of the separate threads of her life entangling. She shook her head and smiled wryly. It was probably inevitable, all things given, but the fates at least should have let her be properly dressed for the occasion. "Was it that obvious?"

"From the mats and the mud and your edginess about the front door, something was up." Adrean glanced outside. "I found some muddy boot prints in the yard. Too large to be yours and you didn't seem to have any prowlers."

"He's close enough to one." Ayame wrapped her arms around herself. "You'll want to take a look, I suppose."

Adrean shook his head. "It's your life, Ayame. I shouldn't intrude."

Ayame fixed her gaze on the far wall. "You've been in my life longer than he has."

The healer looked up at her but she would not meet his eyes. "If you think it won't hurt."

Ayame led him to her room, tiptoeing past the streaky, damp trail near her front door. "He's asleep now," she said. She slid the screen door open and stepped aside. Adrean stood in the doorway, barely breathing.

Sephiroth had rolled himself up in the covers just enough for decency's sake, but Ayame did not spare him a glance. Her eyes were on the healer who stood trembling in the doorway.

Adrean shook his head, chasing off shadows. "He's… impressive." The words were barely a whisper. The man took a step backwards, almost stumbling. Ayame moved in, concerned, but he waved her off with a slight motion. "It's okay. He's… something else. So much power."

Ayame clasped her hands in front of her and willed her fingers to stay still. "What you are looking for?" The black-haired man stared for a long time, murmuring something wordless.

"No." He shook his head. "Close," he whispered, "Very close. He's not perfect but almost." His thoughts ran to a young woman who was very near perfect herself. "Impossible. It should be. How could they possibly…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Are you alright?" Ayame inched closer still. Adrean nodded, stopping her where she was.

"I will be fine. I just…" The healer cut himself off. "It's dangerous. He is dangerous. But it's so close to something wonderful. Flawlessness with near perfection… It could be. It's risky, but it really could be."

Ayame looked at the General. The light in his face did not wake him and he managed to look incredibly innocent in his sleep. Even so, Ayame felt her heart thudding in the same way it had when she had first seen him, a striding conqueror changing her life. "You will be leaving soon then?" she asked Adrean, although she did not turn to look at him.

"Not right away."

"Good." The word barely squeaked by. Ayame ducked her head to hide a shaky smile behind loose hair. The healer shifted again, trying to balance himself. Ayame did not move any closer, content to stand beside him with her sleeve gently brushing his own.

* * *

**A.N.: **I have been looking forward to this chapter for months! _Months_, I tell you! Drunk Seph! Who can resist? XD Okay, okay, I know. It is toeing a line. It may not be to everyone's taste but either way you're getting your money's worth out of this story. ;P


	30. Chapter Thirty

**Dis****claimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work. Original characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Thirty**

The beach was utterly deserted, just the way Yuffie liked it. If some of the advisors had their way, Wutai would have had a flourishing summer tourist trade, Costa del Sol jr., courtesy Shinra Inc. Yuffie thought it lucky that Godo wasn't interested in the seasonal trade just yet and most Wutanese preferred fresh water to salt.

For now she had the place to herself and that was a relief. It had been a disastrous morning after finally leaving her father a sputtering wreck over his dozen hypothetical grandchildren. Aeris had come back from wherever she had gone and was hogging the shower, getting the whole house steamed up and singing. Not that she was horrible but she was pretty oblivious to anything else.

Then Tifa had come looking for Cloud, which was all well and good until Yuffie had told her to go check the local cat house. Tifa looked about ready to fall over until Yuffie remembered what that expression meant in Continental and jumped to correct, no, she really did mean an actual house full of cats, the furry, four-legged variety.

Yuffie groaned again at the thought of the slip and buried her head in her hands. A light scuffing sound behind her caught her ears. It had the rhythm of walking and the reassuring heaviness of one who had no furtive business at hand. Yuffie turned. She toyed briefly with the idea of accosting the stranger but then she recognized the face that emerged over the hill and had to turn away. There seemed to be a strange warm front moving in.

Yuki spotted her immediately. "Hey!" he called out tamely, coming to a stop at her side.

"Hey," Yuffie answered, absorbed in pretending to examine some grass stems, bending the green stalks into curves with her fingers.

"So, uh," Yuki twisted his fingers behind his back but forced the rest of himself to be completely still. "I heard your father met with my mother."

Yuffie glanced up. "Yeah, I heard your mom met with my dad."

They both exhaled as one. Yuki settled himself down on the grass beside Yuffie. "So, what do you think will happen now?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Dunno. My dad kind of wanted to call the whole thing off, but that would be a mess."

"Guess it would. It's not like anything was going to happen right away." Yuki locked his arms around his knees. How many people, he wondered, had ever had this kind of conversation with girls they had only met properly just yesterday. And that wasn't even official in the formal sense of the term. He glanced back over his shoulder. He had taken the side route through the woods and only his teachers had known where he started from, but some habits were ingrained even at his young age. No one had followed him.

"Um," he cleared his throat, "you came here alone?"

"Yeah," Yuffie drawled and tried to shake the embedded pebbles and sand from the soles of her boots. Some things were really wedged in there. Yuki did not say anything for a while. Yuffie banged the heels of her boots and the ground and managed to knock out most of the pebbles.

The boy cleared his throat again. "Yuffie, if we do get married, will it... I mean do you think it'll be... okay?"

Yuffie shrugged and banged her heels some more. "I dunno. Can't say I thought about it much. It was just, you know, a done deal, no escape, why bother worrying kind of thing." She glanced up. "What, you having second thoughts or something?"

"Not likely." Yuki ducked his head to cover the smirk. "What exactly are you trying to do with your feet?"

"There's something stuck at the bottom," Yuffie grunted, scraping her soles across the ground.

"Here, let me see." Yuki plucked one of the sturdier grass stems and leaned over, stealing a glance up the length of leg as Yuffie angled to present the bottom of her shoe. "Okay, I got it." He poked at what appeared to be a compacted nugget of sand wedged firmly into the sole. The grass stem bent twice as he prodded.

"You're doing it wrong!" Yuffie tried to take the stalk from him but he shoved her hand away.

"I almost had it that time." He gripped the stalk at the bent weak point and poked again. The nugget came away, unfurling into something soft and membranous, utterly encrusted with sand.

"Ew! What is that?" Yuffie scrambled away a little. Yuki tried to see past the sand to figure out what was dangling so limply from the end of the stalk.

"Oh... no." It dawned on them both at the same time.

"Oh shit!" Yuffie shrieked and leapt up from her seat, shaking herself off. "I stepped on a condom! Oh, nasty, nasty, gross! EW!"

Yuki felt his skin crawl just holding the stalk. He hadn't actually touched the item, but prophylactics lying out in the open for anyone to step on tended to be used and his hand was way too close for comfort. The thing might as well have been some kind of incendiary device. He set the stalk down gingerly and backed away. He could only hold it for so long. The creepy crawly inner itch finally overcame the last shred of dignity and he joined Yuffie in flailing down the beach.

"Ew, ick, ew, ew, yech!" Yuffie scuffed her boots hard in the surf. "Nasty! Gawd, I hope I don't catch anything!"

Yuki looked up from where he squatted, scrubbing his hands furiously in sea foam while trying to keep the rest of himself dry. "You? You had a whole freaking boot and a sock on. What did I have? Six skinny inches of wood!"

"Yeah," Yuffie scoffed, "That'd be the cause of the whole mess in the first place. Watch what you're doing! You're splashing my leg!"

"Am not! Not on purpose, anyway."

"Better not!" Yuffie stomped her boot down, sending up spray right onto Yuki's dry shirt.

Yuki reared back, gasping in shock. "I said I wasn't!" he yelled, plunging his hands back into the water to push a wave Yuffie's way. Yuffie shrieked and kicked more water at him. At some point she lost her footing on the shifting sand and they both tumbled into the shallow end of the ocean. They stared at each other, soaking wet, for a full five seconds.

Then it was war.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Ah, shit." Cid wagged his burnt hand, fingers singed from his latest attempt to light up. "Morning afters are hell."

"Not so loud, dammit." Barret sat on a low stone wall with his head in his good hand. "Besides, it's not morning anymore. Well, I don't think it is, anyway."

Cid grunted and gave up trying to light his cigarette. "It was worth it though, wasn't it? Wish they'd send some of that stuff over our way. Wutai'd make a killing selling hooch like that overseas. Even took out a freaking SOLDIER. Look at 'im."

"SOLDIER, nothing. Spike can't hold his ale, is all." Barret looked over at the blond in question. Cloud was looking considerably out of it with his hands wrapped around something small as Tifa interrogated him. "Wonder where he went out to get drunk anyway. He wasn't with us."

"Cloud," Tifa was saying, "You know we can't take that with us." There was a blank, confused look on Cloud's face that she didn't like one bit. In his hands he held a pretty little kitten, snowy white, with traces of silvery grey fur leading to black-tipped ears and tail. It had a piercing pair of green eyes and that wild half-scared kitten expression. It reared away when Tifa tried to get close, digging its claws into the knit of Cloud's shirt.

Cloud sighed. "I know. I just... like him for some reason." The kitten mewled and pawed stubbornly at Cloud's chest.

"Cloud, are you feeling okay? You look a little pale."

Cloud slumped a bit. "I wasn't feeling too hot this morning. Like, dizzy, but not really. It's like a headache that doesn't want to hurt." He frowned, knowing it made no sense, but how else to describe that odd hollow sensation in his head. "Am I forgetting something?" he asked. "I've got this feeling that there's something I should remember, but I don't."

Tifa swallowed. Where to start with this? Or how? "You know what, it's been a rough couple of days and everyone's tired. Maybe we could just rest a bit before rounding everyone up."

"That sounds good," Cloud said tamely and started walking.

"Cloud," Tifa called, "you still have to put the kitten down."

"Awww."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The train was crowded but Sephiroth had a cocoon of space all to himself. Some things never changed. People hid their mouths behind woolly gloved fingers, whispering, and Sephiroth heard every word.

"... didn't know _he_ used public transportation."

"Last stop's a long way from home."

"Wonder what happened to his minivan."

"Heard one of his boys... right over the railing."

Sephiroth felt the beginnings of a headache. The red sun set the western sky ablaze. The light glinted off the water right into his eyes. He resisted the urge to rub his forehead. Not with so many people watching.

"Next stop, Painkiller Junction," the conductor called out. Sephiroth rose and made his way to the exit. The conductor took his ticket and waited while he fished in his pocket for change.

"Rough day?" the young man asked as coins continued to rattle. Sephiroth grunted in response. "Kids giving you a hard time?" the man continued.

Sephiroth snorted. "Just the one at the moment." He would not have bothered answering ordinarily, but the man had a soothing kind of voice, friendly, open and familiar.

"Isn't that the way? There's always one troublemaker no matter what you do. Least that's what my mother used to say and I was an only child." The conductor grinned and checked the change Sephiroth dumped into his palm. "I would have liked to find out for sure myself sometime," the man mused as the General stepped down, "but hey, such is life, as they say."

Sephiroth looked back at the young man and eyed the blue conductor's hat perched precariously on wild black spikes. "I named him after you," he blurted out. "My troublemaker." He thought he saw a brief spark of recognition in violet eyes, but the young man covered it with a grin.

"This is your stop, sir. Thank you for traveling the Fairline Express and have a safe trip!"

Sephiroth felt something jerk in his chest as he tripped over the gap and woke up on a futon.

"Welcome back, General," Ayame said. Sephiroth blinked and propped himself up on his elbows to look around. It was pitch black outside and the lighting in the room was low, a mercy even to his enhanced eyes.

"You slept all day," Ayame said, answering the obvious question. "Are you going to need a bucket?"

Sephiroth wondered what for, but then remembered through the fog and the pain crawling up the sides of his skull. "I'll be alright." He frowned at the rasping sound of his voice. A cup was shoved into his hands.

"Drink," Ayame said. "You should rehydrate." She knelt calmly while Sephiroth sipped and refilled the cup from her water jar with a bamboo dipper when he passed the cup back for more. Sephiroth drank half the second cup and took a breath, staring down into the bottom.

"How much do you remember?" Ayame asked. She looked much more together than she had been that morning, hair neatly done up, grey and mauve kimono elegantly arrayed. Sephiroth remembered enough to know she had not looked like that in the morning. He rubbed at a slight swelling on his head.

"I think I bumped into a tree on the way here." He frowned some more. He could not recall actually finding his way to the house and had no idea what he might have done when he got there. He frowned down into the cup and finished the rest of the water. "Did I say anything?"

"Nothing useful." Ayame set the dipper down. "I wouldn't ordinarily recommend this to anyone, General, but perhaps you should have sake more often. You're a very happy drunk."

Sephiroth sniffed and held his cup out again. "Out of consideration for my liver, I think I will decline."He stared into the full cup and rolled it around in his hands, studying the glint of light on the gilt-edged maple leaf painted inside. "Could I trouble you for some tea."

"More water first, and eat something too. I'll bring you dinner." Ayame rose from one knee and bustled out the door before Sephiroth could think about being hungry. He looked around the room, getting a good feel for his surroundings. It was neat, as expected. A lone camellia blossom stood in a bamboo vase near the window. His coat, clean, oiled and gleaming, hung in one corner. Unthinking, Sephiroth put a hand to his hair and found it smooth and bramble-free. He took note of the dark blue yukata he was wearing. Ayame must have sponged and dressed him while he slept. There was something uncomfortable in that knowledge. He looked about for a distraction and found it in a book lying open and face down, not far from the futon.

He had made his way through four chapters by the time the screen door slid open again. He set the book down at light speed while Ayame knelt to pick up a laden tray. She entered carefully and set it down before Sephiroth.

Standard Wutai fare, he noted, looking it over. Lots of rice, pickles and fish, even some soup, though Ayame knew he did not really care for the stuff. He did not feel hungry but he could not say that he didn't either. He picked up the chopsticks and dutifully began to eat.

Ayame turned up the heater she kept in the room, boiling water for tea. Not even a word of thanks from the man. Clearly he had been off living by himself too long. He would need to be whipped back into shape if he planned to live like normal people, with a house and a family. Ayame thanks the powers above that it wasn't her job anymore.

After the first tentative bite, Sephiroth ate hungrily, wolfing down his meal with the desperate gusto of a soldier in a war zone. He barely gave the flavors time to register, but the memory of it all came flooding back with each bite. He had always hated that odd seaweed thing, but it was already down the hatch and the plum on top of the rice was compensation enough. The fish was underdone and the soup was as bad as he remembered but that did not matter because suddenly his long dormant stomach was begging for more.

"How's your rice?" Ayame asked.

"Crunchy," Sephiroth answered with his mouth full, and it was true. That did not stop him from shoveling more into his mouth.

Ayame huffed. "Well, I can't get everything right straight off the bat."

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow over the rice bowl. "You cooked?"

"I'm learning," Ayame said, nodding. "What do you think?"

"It's edible." Sephiroth set the rice bowl down and went after the soup again. Definitely too salty.

"Is that all?" Ayame asked coolly.

Sephiroth shrugged. "It would have been cooked through if I'd done it."

"Cooked and then some." Ayame splashed hot water into a tea bowl. "You were always burning things."

Sephiroth set the soup down and stared intently as Ayame whisked the tea. How much had she heard, exactly? She passed him the cup, unconcerned. Sephiroth sipped slowly and the silence between them spun out. Outside, far away, a cicada chirped. Sephiroth set the cup down and belatedly bowed, awkward for still being half in bed. Ayame bowed in return but said nothing, looking away to take care of the dishes. Sephiroth found himself idly tracking the passage of an ant.

"Your eyes are still red, General. Rest some more," Ayame said, turned partly away to continue her book. Sephiroth lowered himself till his head touch the bedding again and tried to sleep. The recent sensation onslaught, the food, the drink, the sex, seemed to be taking a toll. He rolled onto his side, facing out the window to shade his eyes from the lamp. Behind him he heard Ayame muttering over a lost page.

He lay still, listening. Pages fluttered at the woman's touch. Her breath sharpened at strange intervals. Outside, somewhere to the east, the lone cicada out far past its bedtime fluttered between the trees, doing what any short-lived life form would. It would batter itself against the twigs all night searching for a mate and not find one at this hour, fool thing. It would probably injure itself and be dead by morning. Sephiroth closed his eyes.

He heard the branches creak in the low wind. The garden stream rippled over the rocks. Crickets joined the cicada and were more successful in their ventures. Fireflies sparked in blinking clusters outside the window, moving blurs of pinpoint light even behind closed eyelids. Sephiroth grunted and sat up again.

"I should go," he said.

"Go where?" Ayame did not even lift her head from her book.

"Various places." Sephiroth stretched and worked a kink out of his neck. "I have a lot of preparation to do if I'm to keep her comfortable and happy."

"Ah, so you're ring-shopping, then." Ayame tilted her head and him. Sephiroth rolled his eyes.

"I was thinking of something more practical, like a house. _I _don't get all my romantic notions from bodice-rippers."

Ayame slapped her book shut, startled. "You sneaky bastard, you lost my page!"

"You left the thing lying right there out in the open." Sephiroth shrugged. "I was bored."

Ayame crossed her arms and gave him a look. "Bored enough to read the whole thing."

"Don't be ridiculous. That thing must be two hundred pages long and you were only gone a few minutes. Even I don't read that fast."

"So how do you know what's in it?" Ayame had a look on her face that he knew well. She thought she had him pinned. He'd show her.

"Because," he declared, gesticulating wildly, eyes aglow, "that's the kind of nonsense in all of them!"

"Oh," Ayame covered her mouth. "So you've read _all _of them, then."

"I- wait, what?" Sephiroth cocked his head. "What did I say?"

The woman smirked at him. "Only that you know what's to be found in the average romance novel."

Sephiroth turned slightly pink. "I'm not speaking from personal experience," he said into his shoulder. "Not much, anyway."

"I see," Ayame said, and Sephiroth had the sinking feeling that she really did.

"I got curious once," he mumbled by way of explanation.

"Just once?" Then Ayame had mercy on him. "You should stop there, General, before you dig yourself in any deeper."

Sephiroth sighed and turned away. It was true. As a younger man he had been terribly unaccustomed to many things other people considered normal. He had wondered and blundered and finally began doing his own research. His brief and extremely secret foray into tawdry romance novels had hardly helped. The prose was generally awful and the man on the cover often bore a strange resemblance to what Sephiroth saw in the mirror every morning. He soon gave the things up.

He had sampled theater and poetry, film, ancient epics and even fairy tales, gaining little in the way of real understanding, though he became well-versed enough to leave a favorable impression in higher circles. It seemed, where this was concerned, there was no teacher like experience, and he was certainly getting that now.

A cool gust came through the window and Sephiroth turned his face into it. There really were a lot of fireflies out tonight, lighting up the trees in flashes of phosphorescent green. It was exactly the kind of thing lovers, real and imagined, might stop to marvel at, gazing up at the night sky like moony-eyed fools.

"_You're a fine one to talk," _the voice drawled, jumping into the silence._ "Who was it that tripped down a mountain because he was so overcome by that fuzzy feeling in his tummy that he didn't bother to look where he was going? I mean, I've heard of falling in love, Seph, but that takes the cake."_ Sephiroth sighed but couldn't find it in him to tell the voice to buzz off.

"_What's the matter, Seph?"_ Of course he would pick up on it, being in Sephiroth's head and all. _"You sick or something? Besides the lovesickness, I mean. Normally you'd be howling at me to leave you alone."_

Sephiroth shrugged a little and hoped Ayame did not find him too strange for moving that way at apparently nothing. _"I don't mind you right now." _

"_Awww, Seph, you do care!"_ The voice bounced in his head. _"When you've got nowhere to go and nothing to do and no chance of getting laid, you actually have time for me! I'm feeling the love!"_

Sephiroth huffed and crossed his arms. _"If you're going to be sarcastic about it..."_

"_I wasn't."_ His guest was somber now. _"I know it's the best I could hope for from you, you old stiff."_

Sephiroth made a sound. Ayame inclined her head in his direction to listen for anything more but never took her eyes from the page.

"_So whatcha doing, Sephiroth? Gazing up at the stars?"_

"_And the fireflies, apparently."_

"_Oh. That a problem?"_

"_I'm not sure."_ Sephiroth sat up straighter in bed and turned to face the window fully._ "It seems like such a trite thing to do. This whole business does. Why don't I mind more?"_

"_Why should you? You're happy, aren't you?" _

Sephiroth sighed, _"Yes, but it's so... I don't know."_

"_What, romantic?"_

"_Cheesy. Clichéd."_

The voice began a conspiratorial chuckle._ "I think I know what's got you. You're a freak!"_

"_What!" _

"_Hang on, now, hear me out. You're a freak, Seph, and on some level, you like it that way."_

"_What?"_ It was a little softer this time.

"_I'm serious. I wouldn't lie to you. You're different, Seph, you've always known it, and even though you sometimes wish you understood people better, it's not that big a problem for you."_

"_I suppose."_

"_For real, Seph. Sure, sometimes I've seen when you did feel a little alone and left out and downright confused by other people, but most of the time it doesn't bother you, you're just curious. You like to pretend you're all alone but you used to get plenty of invites. And offers."_

"_Your point?"_

"_You turned most of them down flat, didn't you? You wanted to know, but you didn't feel that compelled to join in."_ The voice poked at some old memory, shaking the threads of emotion tied to it._ "You like yourself the way you are. Which is grand, but you're still a little weird to the rest of us."_

Sephiroth frowned, his lower lip forming the Not-A-Pout it sometimes did when he was thinking about something. It was true, as a General beset with obligation and duty, he had appreciated the space his innate strangeness afforded him. In Shinra, he had created a comfortable bubble around himself, interacting only when necessary, in the prescribed manner, close, after his own fashion, only to those he could stand. He drove all others off with his strange eyes, his cold manner, his reputation, his icy disinterest. And in those rare moments when he found himself wishing for a wider life, wondering what others had that filled the strange emptiness inside, he found ways to keep himself occupied. Ways like thumbing through terrible novels full of lovers plighting their troth beneath the stars. Sephiroth snorted.

"_Heh,"_ the voice noted, triumphant. _"I'm right, aren't I?"_ Seph's only response was a low grumble. _"Yep, I'm right. Big, bad General Sephiroth is turning into a normie and he doesn't like it."_

"_I feel..."_ Sephiroth could not voice the concern easily, even in his head._ "I'm becoming a different person."_

"_That's relationships for you, Seph. Everyone you meet leaves their impression on you, and you leave yours in return." _

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. _"I usually make my impressions with several feet of steel." _

"_Yeah,"_ the voice drawled, _"that always was your problem, wasn't it?"_

"_But can it really be normal, then, to change for someone else?"_ Sephiroth's frown deepened. He had no other word for that but 'weak'.

"_Kind of."_ Sephiroth could almost see the other frown. _"It's like, when someone really matters to you, when you want them to be happy, you try to be better for them. More considerate, maybe. Stronger."_

"_Stronger?" _

"_Yeah, sort of. I'm not really sure, exactly. Like for __**her**_ no doubt about who there, _"I'd be willing to rein myself in to keep her smiling, if she didn't like what I did. Not that she'd ever ask me to. It's weird but that's kind of why I'd do it for her. "_

Ah, self-control. Sephiroth did understand. Freely chosen. Perhaps this was not as bad as he had thought. He allowed himself a little smile._ "It's the frilly curtains part that really has me worried."_

"_Heh, can't help you there, bud. Relationships are built on compromise but sometimes you just gotta let the women have their way."_ Sephiroth could almost feel the voice sharing a wry smile with him. _"So... what did you do with all the romance books?"_

Sephiroth had to smirk at that. _"There weren't that many. I donated them to someone who was __**sure**__ to appreciate such things. Anonymously, of course."_

"_Really? Who- wait, a second... Oooh, you mean..."_ The voice gave in to fits of laughter. _"Seph, I heard he stabbed holes in the covers where your face was!" _

Sephiroth shrugged. _"I know. He made a point of leaving them where I could see. Not that it really was my face anyway."_

"_I guess. By the way, you know you have a flower in your hair?"_

"_It's still there?"_ Sephiroth put a hand to his head and found the grass stalk with its tiny flowers still secured behind his ear. _"She put it there this morning."_

"_Dum dum da-dum!"_ the voice was singing now, a tune even Sephiroth had to know. _"Dum dum da-dum."_

"_Oh, knock it off,"_ Sephiroth mentally batted at the presence. _"Or at least sing the words! And I'm not the bride." _

"_But with hair like yours, you wouldn't even need to spring for a veil!"_

"_Hush, you!" _

"Is everything alright, General?" Ayame turned away from her book. "You're clearing your throat a fair bit. Are you coming down with something?"

Sephiroth snapped back to the outer world. "No, I'm fine."

"Then I can finish my book in peace?"

Sephiroth spun around on the futon. "Why do you read that unrealistic tripe, anyway? A woman of your intelligence?"

Ayame stretched across the distance and smacked him upside the head with her fan. Lightly, though, and Sephiroth took it without protest. "Flattery won't work, General. I have my reasons."

"Good ones?" Sephiroth smirked, courting another smack on the head. Ayame looked back and forth from him to the fan in her hand and decided against it.

"My reasons, General," she said, lightly stroking the fan's bamboo spokes, "and that makes them more than good enough."

"Anything you can share?" Curiosity struck again.

"_It'll kill you one of these days, cat-eyed boy!"_

"_I told you to hush it!"_

Ayame sighed. "Are you always a soldier, General, every minute of every day, or do you ever find yourself wading through a stream with an empty bottle in one hand?"

Sephiroth looked askance. "Point taken," he said, hoping Ayame never found out about the secret stash of Homemaker's Journal magazines he'd had back in the day. But there had to be more to it than a break from the grind.

"And when you were curious, General, did you happen to take note of how these stories end?"

"What was there to note? They were formulaic and all the same after a point. The couple declares undying devotion and live happily ever after. Oh."

"Exactly."

Sephiroth took in the sight of the woman approaching indeterminate middling-years with a girl's romantic fancy. "So the fantasy serves its purpose."

"It does." She opened the fan gently and stared at the verse and picture painted on it, pine trees, two, one close, one distant and small.

"Ayame," Sephiroth began, not unkindly, "did you never stop pining for that great lost love? Could you?"

"Hm." Ayame glanced up. "I've had plenty of opportunity over the years to recover from that initial girlish foolishness. It just never seemed to work out." She turned the fan over in her hand, studying front and back. "The war played a part, I think. It had a very special knack for separating my patrons' necks from their heads."

Sephiroth felt a twinge in his chest. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, General. War is what it is and a geisha's life is limiting even without that." She sighed, brushing her fingers across the edge of fan. The initial faded green shade may have turned even more grey over the years, but perhaps that only made it closer to the color Ayame had wanted in the first place.

"You should get a new fan, Ayame," Sephiroth cut in on her thoughts. "That one's seen better days."

"I suppose it has, but I couldn't bear to part with it." Ayame closed it carefully and tucked it into her kimono. "It's like a very dear friend."

Sephiroth could understand that. He sometimes felt that the Masamune was his closest thing to kin, an extension of himself, one that understood him completely. Fortunately the object of his sentiment was more hardy than a fan.

"I should go," he said and made to rise.

"You can take a shower before you leave," Ayame offered, flicking one page.

"I don't think that's necessary," Sephiroth replied.

Ayame gave him that look he knew so well. "I'm serious, General. Take a shower, or a bath. You're still oozing the scent of sake out your pores."

Sephiroth gave himself a discreet whiff. "Oh. Alright."

"And you might want to do something about that too." Ayame indicated with a glance. Sephiroth looked down at himself.

"What? I don't see anything." Lucky thing too.

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Above the belt, General. On your chest."

Sephiroth had to drop his chin to his collar bone to see. On the left pectoral, close to the center of his chest, he sported an impressive mass of love bites, red, narrowed and linked to form an 'A'.

"What the-!"

"She's a possessive little thing, I see." Ayame laughed.

Sephiroth covered the mark with both hands and sputtered. "How could she- this is awful!"

"Relax, General, it's not as if it's on your neck or somewhere everyone can see it." Ayame ignored the man's withering stare.

"_Uh-oh, look who wishes he had a shirt now."_

"_Can it, you!"_

"_Or a vest, even. Or maybe a nice bustier."_

"_See, now you're just being ridiculous." _

* * *

**A.N.:** I know this has been an unprecedented wait between updates. This fic takes a lot out of me for reasons I don't know and being kept busy with life issues really does sap the energy. Moving, new job, bills etc. This chapter was never far from my mind, written in short bursts on scraps as I could manage in between everything else. I did get several chances to do a chapter twenty-four of my own though. ;) Thank you all for waiting and special thanks to picaxb0o for the heartfelt, encouraging poke in this direction!


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square-Enix. No profit is sought from this work. New characters and elements are my own.

**Path of Seduction**

**Chapter Thirty-One**

"Can you find your way in the dark?" Ayame asked. Sephiroth gave her a pointed glance up through his bangs as he strapped on his boots. "Ah, of course." Ayame nodded. His eyes looked brighter than she remembered, though it may have been the effect of surrounding night. "Will you come this way again?"

"I'm not certain." Sephiroth straightened and took a look into the dark. It was high time to leave Wutai. He had not meant to come here in the first place. There was work to be done and that was too easy to forget far away from the thready call of the weak minds that searched for him. Unpleasant prospect, but necessary. "I have... a meeting of sorts to attend."

Ayame took a deep breath and tucked her hands in her sleeves to ward off the chill. "Tell your Second I send my greetings, then."

Sephiroth frowned. "Second?"

"_For shame, Seph!"_ The voice sounded miffed._ "At least _some_body remembers." _

Ayame tilted her head at him. "Zack? The boy with the wild hair? The one who used to balance teacups on his forehead?" Now it was her turn to frown. "Is he still your Second? He disappeared around the same time you did."

"He's dead," Sephiroth said, expressionless.

Ayame blinked. "Dead like you're dead or-"

"Dead, dead," Sephiroth said.

"_Yep, dead. Sucks." _

Ayame could not hold back a sigh. "I am sorry."

"_Me too."_

"Korin will be sad," Ayame said. "She still wonders about him. I left the okiya to her, you know."

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow. "Then she's likely grown too mature for him. Not that it would have taken much."

"_Hey, don't mock the dead!"_

"Don't mock the dead, General," Ayame echoed.

"I'm not mocking him, it's the truth!"

"_Fine!" _Sephiroth's guest huffed. _" See if I ever talk to you again!"_

"_If only,"_ Sephiroth made a wry reply.

"_Don't think I won't!" _The threat was playful. Sephiroth sighed.

"_You can't. Keeping your mouth from running is a physical impossibility."_

"_Oh, guess what? I'm not exactly physical right now so nyeah!" _

Sephiroth exhaled heavily.

"All set, General?" Ayame cut in. Sephiroth nodded, still tracking out his path through the dark. "When you've finished, General," Ayame said quietly, watching closely, "you are welcome here. You and your young lady."

Sephiroth stepped off the porch and turned. He caught Ayame's eyes but said nothing. A moment passed, crowned with silent understanding. Sephiroth bowed deeply, turned and was gone.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Where to next, Spike? Getting any ideas now?" Barret stretched a kink out of his neck. Cloud was staring across the water, looking maybe a little better than he had when they started out the day before. Maybe the stress was getting to the boy, Barret figured. He may have been a SOLDIER, but he was still a shit-pantsed little punk kid.

Cloud turned with a stare that was too intense for any lost child. "As soon as we get back to the Bronco, we'll head east."

"Finally." Cid slapped his thigh. "You were looking so fucking wasted earlier I didn't think we could trust you not to put your drawers on backwards."

"Huh?" Cloud glanced down, suddenly overwhelmed with an urge to check.

"Spaced out as Spike gets sometimes," Barret said, "we're lucky if he remembered his drawers at all."

"Hey!" Cloud protested.

"Ease up, you two," Tifa said, coming over to Cloud's side. "You are wearing shorts, right?" she whispered.

Cloud sputtered. "Yeah, I mean, I think – YES!"

"It's okay, Cloud." Aeris patted him on the shoulder while she and Tifa shared a smirk. "So East?"

"Yes," Cloud said with just a hint of growly gravel in his voice.

Cid stretched. "And then where?"

"And then..." Cloud looked around the camp, feeling his mind go blank again. Why were they doing this exactly? And what was he looking for? "I- I don't know."

"There he goes again." Barret threw his hands up in the air.

"It's okay," Tifa said. "We'll figure it out, just like we've been doing all along. It depends on where Sephiroth is, right, Cloud?"

Cloud looked up, startled and gave a quiet, "Yes."

"A'ight," Cid said, reaching for his lighter. "Let's break camp and find the Bronco, bitches!"

"Now, see, Cloud," Barret said, thumping Cloud on the back, "That's how you give the order to move out."

"Mm," Cloud nodded, moving automatically to his tent but having a hard time taking his eyes off the water. East. That felt right, but why, exactly?

"Cloud," Aeris said quietly. "Are you okay?"

Cloud snapped back to himself, feeling uncomfortably out of his own head. He wondered if he was coming down with the flu. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Aeris laid a hand on his forehead. Cloud winced slightly as something flickered past his mind's eye too fast for him to see. Aeris took her hand away, looking puzzled. Cloud didn't think she had been checking his temperature.

"Is Cloud unwell?" Vincent asked, already done and waiting patiently for the rest.

"He'll be okay," Aeris said, though her eyes never left Cloud's face.

"Damn, that's just the last thing we need," Barret huffed, struggling to wrap his tent. "Cloud getting sick, Smokey here giving everybody cancer-"

"Tch!"

"And Yuffie's got some freaky rash!"

"I do not have a freaky rash!"

"Oh, yeah?" Cid drawled. He blew a smoke ring above his head, making an elaborate show of it. "What's all those red scrapy marks on you?"

Yuffie huffed. "I was in a big fight, you know. Five people, including my old man and he's no lightweight."

"Alright, alright, whatever you say, kid." Cid toed his wrapped tent and hoisted it on his shoulders. "Just thought you'd have put some ointment on it by now. People might think you have sand burn."

"Sand burn?" Tifa asked, checking Yuffie's reddened elbows over to make sure the girl was okay.

Barret chuckled. "Yeah."

"Yeah, you know, sand burn," Cid continued. "It's like rug burn, 'cept you get it when you fuck on a beach instead."

"Cid," Tifa shrieked, "For goodness sake, man."

"Hey, goodness got nothing to do with it!" Cid grinned and ducked the fist Tifa nearly threw at him.

She made a disgusted sound, spun Yuffie around by the shoulders and walked her off in a saner direction. "Honestly, there's just no redemption for a guy like that."

"Uh huh," Yuffie mumbled, turning as pink as Aeris' dress.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_So, General, Sephiroth, Sephy, Sepherdoodle, Sexyroth-"_

"_MUST you keep finding more ridiculous ways to mangle my name?" _Sephiroth propped himself up on the battered fence but couldn't find it in him to scowl. It was a beautiful day.

"_Hey, I can get away with it now, right?"_ said his guest. _"It's not like you're going to grab me by the scruff of my neck and toss me out on my ass."_

Sephiroth scoffed. _"That's because you don't have a neck for me to grab or an ass for me to toss you out on."_

The voice sighed mournfully. "_True. Sad, but true. Man, I miss my ass. It was a really nice one."_

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. _"And people call me vain." _A nearby cow made a low moo of agreement.

"_So now what, O illustrious General, O sword-dancing demon of the-"_

"_Knock it off!"_ Seph batted at the air around him, as if swatting at a fly.

His guest laughed. _"Okay, but seriously, now what?"_

Sephiroth propped himself up on the fence and stared across fields. _"Now I make Aeris happy."_ He frowned.

"_How now, brown cow?"_ the voice mused airily as Sephiroth moved further along to fence to escape an approaching bovine.

Sephiroth swatted at the air again, this time with reason. _"I don't know. What makes a woman happy?"_

The voice snickered._ "Well, I could give you a few tips if that's what you're looking for,"_ it said, sly-toned.

"_I don't need your help to find the clitoris, thank you very much." _

"_How about the G-spot? Need a map for that?"_

Sephiroth sighed heavily. He folded his arms across the fence and set his chin down on them. The sun warmed his face. The grass beneath his feet was lush and springy, stretching out before him in an endless emerald sea, dotted by placid animals and jewel-hued butterflies being buffeted in the soft wind.

It almost made up for the overpowering scent of cow. A mother and calf plodded by, cowbells ringing. Sephiroth wrinkled his nose as they passed. They came to a stop a dozen feet away, the cow idly plucking at the grass while the calf tried to nurse.

"_This would be so easy if I could tie Aeris out in a field to graze,"_ Sephiroth said.

"_Oh, kinky! I bet she'd let you tie her up if you asked nice." _The voice was smirking with lips it didn't have now. _"Girl's got a freaky side."_

The image of dark lace panties flashed before Sephiroth's eyes. _"Don't remind me."_

"_Ah, who are you kidding, Seph? Moony as you are right now, you'd do drag in a flash if it would make her happy."_

Seph scoffed. _"I would not."_

"_Uh huh, sure you wouldn't."_

"_I wouldn't!" _Sephiroth insisted. The voice waited patiently. "_Well, maybe if she really, really, really, reaaaaaally wanted me to." _

"_Mmhmm."_

"_And if she promised we could try it on the ceiling at some point."_

"_Uh-huh. Wait, the ceiling?"_

Sephiroth smirked. Let the guy chew on that for a bit.

_"Heheh,"_ the voice chuckled weakly. _"Well, reciprocity's fair, I guess, as long as you're not too pushy."_

"_I'm not pushy, I'm persuasive." _

"_Gotcha. Like how you got her to come with you?"_

"_She is coming, she's just needs some time to tie up loose ends first."_

"_Right." _The voice drifted. Seph could almost feel the presence leaning over the fence with him. "_Loose ends would be troublesome. Got to get her hair done, have a night out with the girls, kiss Cloud goodbye..."_

"_She is not kissing Cloud," _Sephiroth snapped, tensing quickly despite the atmosphere.

"_Dude, relax." _Sephiroth could feel the voice backing up in his head. "_I was just saying. And a goodbye kiss isn't a kiss kiss, you know. It's like a friend thing. Like I would give you." _

"_Let's... not go there again." _

"_Meh, suit yourself. You have got to do something about that jealousy, though."_

"_What jealousy?"_

"_What d'ya mean 'what jealousy'? I just mention Cloud and you're ready to explode in my face". _

"I have no reason to be jealous of Cloud," Sephiroth declared out loud.

"_Is that so? So how come anytime you hear his name your hackles raise?"_

"You said 'kiss Cloud'." Sephiroth grumbled. "Aeris isn't kissing anyone but me."

"_Even a goodbye kiss?"_

"_Even that."_

"_Jealous bastard." _

Sephiroth opened his mouth to protest but then realized that would leave room to call him a liar too. He huddled down on the fence, grumpy and frowning. Stupid love.

The voice sighed. "_Seph, for your sake, you better not do anything to drive her away. I don't think you could handle it."_

"_Handle what?"_

"_Her leaving, you know. Possibly finding somebody else." _

Something wrenched in Sephiroth's chest. He clamped down on it, refusing to acknowledge such an ugly part of his soul. "She won't leave me."

"_I know,"_ the voice said. _"She's not like that. But just for discussion's sake, what if she did?"_

"She won't leave me!" Sephiroth shouted. The cow flicked her ears at him and began to trot away.

"_Calm down, Sephiroth. Damn, you have got it bad, and I don't mean that in the good way."_

Sephiroth stood rigid, not sure what the voice meant. _"I'm just saying,"_ it continued, though Sephiroth really didn't want it to, _"because you know that's like, the hallmark of unhealthy there or something. Well, short of trying to kill the girl anyway."_

Sephiroth could name something else he wanted to kill at that very moment. The voice seemed to sense it, backing into a corner of Sephiroth's mind, close to recent cherished memories, protected. Sephiroth smirked, watching the calf try to catch up with it's mother. This new guest was infinitely easier to handle than Mother. Where was Mother, anyway? Not that he minded the lack of headaches, but the new one was rather without direction. More concerned with making the relationship work than getting back to the real business at hand.

Sephiroth let his mind spread outward, brushing against the weak, slithering thoughts of the ones robed in black. Their minds were a muddle, lost, dazed and confused while Sephiroth had turned his attention to better things. Sephiroth pulled himself back, hoping to avoid notice, but they were like leeches with no other source to suck from. They sensed him as he turned. He fled, drowning out their broken wails with only will and fury.

"_Yoohoo, Sephy-pants, where'd you go?_

Sephiroth groaned. _"Nowhere pleasant."_

"_I figured. It's like the weight of the world crashed on you in here. What's eating you all of a sudden?"_

"_I have things to take care of. Things I've been neglecting."_

"_Ooh, procrastinator. Been too busy chasing your chickadee, huh?" _Sephiroth grunted. He would admit nothing. _"Ah, I can't blame you, pal," _his guest went on, longing clear in the voice. _"That's what's really important in life."_

"_Sex?" _Sephiroth went cynical.

"_No, stupid, taking care of the one you love."_ That, Sephiroth could not argue with. He watched as the cow joined another in the field, tail swishing as she plodded along.

"_Sephiroth?"_ The voice asked.

"_Yes."_

"_You will take care of her, right?" _

Sephiroth knew begging when he heard it. _"Of course I will. That goes without saying."_

"_Good."_ The voice quivered with relief, or something else. _"Because that's all I want, you know, for her to be okay. I mean, I'm no good to her stuck here like this and if she's happy, then I can be happy for her, even if it's with you."_

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. _"What do you mean 'even if it's with me'?" _

"_It's not _you_ you," _the voice spluttered. _"Well, maybe a little but... when she's with you and she smiles that way, I'd give anything to be in your shoes."_

Sephiroth smirked. _"Who's jealous now?"_

"_Who wouldn't be?" _The voice snapped, bitter. _"But I know what's what and what's not possible. Seph, promise me you'll take care of her. Promise me you'll do whatever it takes to make her safe and happy. I'd never want to let her go but I don't have a choice. Just promise me, as long as she's happy, I think I can live... uh, be at peace with it."_

"_I'll take care of her,"_ Sephiroth answered, as much to shut the voice up as anything. He was tiring of this guest. Too talkative by far, and though he caused no headaches as Mother had, something in Sephiroth was distinctly uncomfortable.

"_Heh, guess I should have figured if any girl could turn your head it would be her."_

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow, accidently making eye contact with the calf as it peered out from under it's mother's belly. _"What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_Well, you know, you never really seemed into the ladies in Midgar."_

Sephiroth sighed. _"I couldn't afford to be."_

"_Too much work?" _

"_Too much scrutiny."_

The voice sighed with him. _"Yeah, guess the media was pretty rough on you."_

Sephiroth scoffed. _"I can handle the media. It was Hojo I worried about."_

"_Hojo? What the fuck, was he messing in your love life?"_

"_And then some. He was far too encouraging."_

"_Encouraging?"_ The voice seemed confused.

Sephiroth sighed. _"He wanted me to breed. He wanted my offspring for the lab, for research. I refused to give him the opportunity."_

The voice was silent for a while. _"Gods, Seph..."_

"_I was always careful," _Sephiroth insisted. _"It was easier eventually to focus on work and find other... outlets for my energy."_

"_So that's the secret to awesome power on the battlefield,"_ the voice said in awe, weighing the options. _"Meh, I think I prefer getting laid."_

"_So do I, actually,"_ Sephiroth grumbled.

The voice waited. The calf crawled out from under its mother and wandered over to the fence. Sephiroth tried to back away.

_"He's still out there, you know,"_ the voice said.

"_I know."_

"_You planning to do anything about it? He'll want her, you know. He had her in the lab already."_

Sephiroth recalled his first glimpse of Aeris' pale face. Fluorescent lighting always did give such a sickly glow.

"_Seph, if he wants you breeding..."_

Sephiroth shuddered, his skin crawling with the ghostly prickings of a thousand long-gone needles. He saw Aeris on her back again, too weak to cry, and the living doll of his dream walking in his every last tortured footstep. "I won't let him," Sephiroth resolved, voice like ice.

"_Good,"_ said the voice. _"Got a plan, by the way? I wouldn't mind being in on it?"_

Sephiroth smirked, running over his grand design. _"I'm bound to run into him sooner or later." _

"_Ooh, goody!"_ The voice bounced. _"Will it be slow?" _

"_Excruciatingly so if I have anything to say about it."_ The little calf made a cry and bolted back to its mother.

"_Oh, look, you done gone and spooked the cattle. Aeris is really gonna love that." _

Sephiroth frowned after the little spotted calf. _"I didn't mean to,"_ he mumbled. _"Now what?"_

"_I don't know. Maybe try saying you're sorry?" _

"_Does that work on cows?"_

"_Uh, it's the thought that counts, right?"_

* * *

**A.N.:** This has got to be the longest honeymoon phase a relationship has ever seen! XD Well, not really, in fic time it's only a matter of weeks and months even if I take years in real time to write. I think I really needed the break, guys. Lots of real life moves and changes left me wanting time to settle and recharge as well, so I've been writing all manner of short fic at my journal instead of botching this up. As always, hoping to keep to it more regularly now that I've had a brief change of pace. Thank you for being here!


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